


Magical Friendship

by ThatMasterOnline



Series: Magical Friendship [1]
Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 23,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22565935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatMasterOnline/pseuds/ThatMasterOnline
Summary: Harry Potter AU. Aziraphale and Crowley are opposite ends of the spectrum in almost every way. From childhood sweethearts to enemies wishing they could be friends again, they never fail to help when the other needs it.Everything this fic is or will be is inspired by this lovely art right here: https://itlooksalittlescarytome.tumblr.com/post/187860599687/harry-potter-au-slytherin-hufflepuff
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Magical Friendship [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1656478
Comments: 20
Kudos: 68





	1. The Boy With Red Hair

Aziraphale swallowed as he walked into Ollivander's wand shop. He was going to get his wand today. He'd go to Hogwarts, and then he'd be away from his parents until Christmas. He swallowed again. Away from his parents until Christmas. Four whole months…

"Why not this one? I blew up that vase, isn't that what wands are meant to do?"

"The wand chooses the wizard, and that wand has not chosen you. Perhaps this one. Twelve and a half inches, dragon heartstring. Ah! Welcome, young man, come in, come in!" Ollivander looked up and smiled warmly at him.

"Be with you in just a few moments," he said, then turned back to his previous customer, a boy Aziraphale's age with fierce red hair and a scowl on his face.

"I want to blow stuff up," the boy grouched as he took the next wand. He waved it, and books went flying off the shelves. (Aziraphale flinched. Not the books…)

"No, not that one."

"Again, why not?!"

"Because, young man, at the very least you want to _control_ what your wand does." The boy grumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'fair point' to Aziraphale's ears.

"Here. Veela hair, hazel wood, eleven inches." The boy took it, and immediately jerked. Ollivander nodded.

"There we are. I'll box that up, and then I can get to my next customer. One who hopefully won't have such an interest in _blowing things up._ " The boy moved his head in a slight upward motion as he took the box, turned, and nodded to Aziraphale. Aziraphale saw sunglasses so dark he couldn't see the boy's eyes, but he certainly felt the intensity in the gaze behind them. Then the moment passed and the other boy was gone.

"Welcome, my boy! Here for your wand?"

"Yes...yes, sir."

"And polite, too, excellent. Well, try this one. Ten and a half inches, phoenix feather." Aziraphale took it.

"...Give it a wave, dear boy." Aziraphale looked around, finally pointing his wand away from Ollivander, at a neatby vase, and waving. Good thing, too, as the vase shattered, and Aziraphale jumped.

"No, no, no. Alright...try this one. Seven inches, phoenix feather again." Desperately trying to avoid any books or wand boxes, Aziraphale waved his wand at a table, which shuddered and fell over. Aziraphale grimaced.

"No, but we're getting closer. Hmm...try this one. Nine inches, thestral tail hair." Aziraphale took the wand, and he knew. Everything just clicked, he felt magic rush through his body, right down to his fingertips, in a way he never had before. Mr. Ollivander was smiling.

"Well that certainly took less time than my last customer. It takes a special kind of person to wield a thestral hair wand...I think you might be destined for great things, dear boy." Aziraphale smiled, but then-

"Aziraphale! Are you finished?" His father Gabriel banged on the glass of the shop to get his attention, and his mother Uriel stood beside him with her usual stern expression.

"Yes, father."

"Then what are you still doing here?" His father flashed him the 'come on, what kind of idiot does that?' grimace. It was hard to describe, but very distinctive once you saw it.

"Coming, father."

  
___________

  
"Now, remember, study hard, Aziraphale."

"Yes, father."

"We'll know if you don't," his mother added.

"Yes, mother."

"And I expect you to be in Hufflepuff, understand? That's where all the bright young students go." 

"Yes, father."

"Alright, off you go. Remember, keep your studies up!" 

"Yes, father."

Both parents waved and smiled at him as he boarded, his mother even going so far as to take out a handkerchief and dab at her dry eyes. Aziraphale found a vacant compartment and sat in it, alone. He took out his favourite book - _Novice Charms for the Beginning Witch or Wizard_ \- and opened up to where he left off. 

Had Aziraphale been watching, he would have seen the same red-headed boy from earlier pass his compartment, freeze, then step back to look in at him. Then move on, only to turn around and walk back past his compartment a minute later. And then the boy did one more pass before coming back to stop in front of Aziraphale's compartment. As it was, Aziraphale hadn't been watching, he had been reading. He had enjoyed his peace for about a minute before the door to his compartment slid open.

"Mind if I join you? Er...S'all full everywhere else."

"Of course," Aziraphale replied, looking up at the newcomer, and his eyes widened with recognition.

"I saw you at Ollivander's the other day. You got your wand the same time I did." The boy raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah. Nice to see you again, then. Name's Crowley, by the way. Anthony Crowley, but just call me Crowley."

"Hello, Crowley. I'm Aziraphale."

"Aziraphale? That's a new one."

"My whole family's fond of strange names like that."

"Huh," was the only response Crowley gave before shrugging it off and changing the subject.

"How long did it take you to get your wand?"

"Less than five minutes, I believe."

"Five _minutes_?!" Crowley shot back, "I was in that shop for two bloody hours! Must've tried every wand in the shop!"

"Well...I hear it's different for everybody," Aziraphale replied somewhat sympathetically, "Maybe...you're just hard to read." Crowley scoffed.

"Yeah, sure." The train's whistle sounded, and Crowley looked up at it briefly.

"...Gonna wave to your parents?" he asked. Aziraphale glanced outside, then shook his head somewhat sadly.

"They've probably already left," he said. Crowley made a sympathetic sound.

"Yeah, my parents aren't even here. Gave me a few thousand galleons and left me to do all my book shopping and ticket buying myself."

"That's horrible!"

"Your parents don't sound all that much better, Aziraphale, dropping you off and leaving without saying goodbye."

"Well...they're very busy," Aziraphale replied evasively, "They've got important things to take care of."

"More important than seeing off the son they're not going to see until Christmas?"

"Well…"

"Your parents sound like right bastards, Aziraphale."

"They're not, they're good people, just...busy." Crowley nodded skeptically as the train pulled away from the station.


	2. Anything From the Trolley?

"Anything from the trolley! Anything from the trolley!" They heard the cart rolling up toward their compartment, and when it stopped and their door slid open, Aziraphale's eyes widened like...well, like a kid in a candy store.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?" Aziraphale eyed the trolley piled high with candies and chocolates of all shapes and sizes with the most obvious look of uncontrollable longing Crowley had ever seen before his lower lip trembled and he looked to the ground.

"...Not for me, thank you." After  _ that _ look? Crowley's eyebrows shot even above his dark sunglasses.

"What, did your parents not give you any money? Here, tell me what you want and I'll buy it for you."

"Oh, no, that's...very kind of you, Crowley, but no, I'm alright. I do have my own money, I'm just...not allowed to spend it on frivolous things."

"Your parents aren't here, live a little. One chocolate frog is hardly the end of the world. If it'll make you feel better, I'll buy it for you, and then your wallet won't have a dent in it."

"Thank you, Crowley, really, but no."

"I'm serious, Aziraphale, anything you want, name it and it's yours."

"Really, I...I couldn't." Crowley sighed.

"Alright then, suit yourself. I'll have two pumpkin pasties, two chocolate frogs, and two fudge cakes?"

"Quite the sweet tooth you've got there, young man. Alright, that'll be two galleons and six knuts." Crowley handed over the money and received his stack of goodies in return.

"Come find me if you want anything else, dears, I'll be roaming the halls or in the rear compartment."

"Will do." Crowley nodded and Aziraphale smiled as she closed the door to their compartment. Crowley was sorely tempted to offer one of his candies to Aziraphale again, but he knew there'd be no point. Instead he ate one pumpkin pasty, then nibbled his way very slowly through a chocolate frog. By the end of it, he made sure to spend more time passing the frog between his hands and sulking at it than actually eating it. When he finished he looked at the assortment of other treats and sighed heavily.

"I thought I'd be hungry enough to eat all of this, but that chocolate frog just...was too much chocolate for me. Oh, it'll all go to waste now...Do you want some, Aziraphale?" Aziraphale's eyes darted between the candies and Crowley.

"Are you sure?" Crowley did his best to look as pathetic and miserable as possible.

"Yeah, I can't eat another bite. The chocolates'll all go to waste unless you have them."

"Well...alright. Wouldn't want them to go to waste."

"Thanks, Aziraphale. Teach me to buy what I can eat, not what I think looks good." Aziraphale smiled but didn't reply, as he had a fudge cake already unwrapped and halfway to his mouth.

The rest of the train ride passed in relative peace. Crowley slept, his cheek resting against the window and his dark sunglasses askew on his face, and Aziraphale smiled fondly at him.

_ If only Mr. Ollivander could see him now _ , he thought,  _ He's very different from the boy who was obsessed with blowing things up. _

Soon the sky grew dark, and the train blew its whistle and screeched to a stop. 

"Crowley...Crowley. Crowley, wake up."

"Mmh…?" Aziraphale would admit to being curious what Crowley's eyes looked like, but he'd righted his sunglasses before he'd even opened them. Aziraphale wondered briefly if he was blind, or had a scar he was ashamed of, but then decided it was none of his business.

"We're here, Crowley." 

"Oh...right. Sorry, was terrible conversation…"

"Not at all, you looked like you could use the rest."

"A bit, yeah. Don't get much sleep at home." Aziraphale didn't get any time to say anything on the subject, because almost as soon as the train had come to a complete stop, a deep, gruff voice was calling:

"First years! First years, this way! Follow me, please!" Aziraphale and Crowley shared a glance, then shrugged. They set off towards the voice, but didn't have much trouble finding it, for the simple reason that it belonged to the tallest, largest man they had ever seen.

"First years, this way! Gather round me, that's right!" Aziraphale and Crowley pressed close, Crowley grabbing Aziraphale's sleeve so they wouldn't get separated by the throng of children crowding in to get a better look at the huge man in front of them.

"Right! Is everyone here?" The small crowd of newcomers glanced around, taking stock of their friends and nodding when everyone in each individual friend group had been accounted for.

"Excellent! My name is Hagrid, I'm the groundskeeper here at Hogwarts, and my job is to lead you lot to the boats. Now, when we get there, it's two to a boat and not a person more, understand? And no pushing, there's enough boats for everyone. Ready? Right, off we go, then."

They followed Hagrid to the boats, where everyone made it on with only a minor incident. (Hagrid picked up and physically separated two kids who were arguing over who would sit with their friend. Hagrid sat with the friend and the two kids got their own boat.) Aziraphale and Crowley watched the approaching castle and made small talk.

"They say you can't flip these boats no matter how hard you try." Crowley rocked the boat experimentally.

"Crowley!" Aziraphale called, hanging on for dear life, "What on earth are you doing?"

"What's it look like, angel, I'm trying to flip the boat." He rocked harder, throwing his weight at the side of the boat.

"Crowley! Crowley, for Heaven's sake, please!" Crowley rolled his eyes, but obligingly stopped. He rather liked this one, couldn't say why.

"Oh, you're no fun, angel."

"I don't care about being fun, I care about staying alive. Do you have any idea what kind of monsters could be down there? What if we fell in?"

"You can swim, can't you?"

"That's not the point!" Aziraphale shot back, and Crowley rolled his eyes.

"You're no fun," he concluded. A few beats of silence passed, broken by Aziraphale.

"...Angel?"

"What?"

"Earlier, you called me angel. Why?" Crowley stammered.

"Eh-ah-wh-uh-i-we-j-j...just felt like it. 'Sides...you are like an angel, aren't you? All that listening to your parents stuff?"

"I'm like an angel because I listen to my parents? I shudder to think the kind of chaos that happens in your household…"

"We have fun at my house, angel. ...You don't...mind, do you? Being called angel?" Aziraphale shrugged, his cheeks tinting ever so slightly pink.

"...It's not...so bad, no."


	3. Sorting

A little over an hour later, all the students were crowded in front of a massive set of doors. A tall, pale, terrifying-looking woman walked down the stairs, and one look in her eyes told Crowley that this woman was in charge, and that that authority was  _ not  _ to be trifled with. Whatever trouble he planned on starting, he was going to do it well away from her.

"Good evening, children," the woman began, "My name is Professor McGonagall. Now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. Before that, however, you will be sorted into your houses. While you are here at Hogwarts, your house will be like your family. For every good deed, you will earn points, and for every broken rule you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will be awarded the house cup. Any questions?" Her eyes fell on Crowley, and Crowley shook his head mutely. She eyed him a moment longer, then turned away.

"Excellent. Follow me. The doors opened, and the children all stepped through.

"You were awfully quiet in there," Aziraphale commented quietly.

"That teacher scares me," was all the answer Crowley gave, before McGonagall spoke and he shut right up.

"Now, when I call your name, please step forward, and I will place the Sorting Hat upon your head."

"Scares you? She seemed nice enough…"

"Winston Abbott!"

"Oh, no." Aziraphale had suddenly gone very pale, and his eyes had started darting around the room.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" the sorting hat shouted; neither of them paid much mind.

Crowley had been in trouble enough times to know the "cornered rabbit" look, and Aziraphale had it written all over his body, from his darting eyes to his shaking hands to the way he looked ready to pass out.

"Avery Adamson!"

"What's wrong, angel?"

"They're...they're using last names…"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"What's wrong with that?" Come to think of it, had Aziraphale ever told him his last name? ...There was probably a good reason for the omission, Crowley decided.

"You think people are gonna get weird when they know your name?" 

"They always do...Oh, Crowley, I didn't want you to know…!"

"Richard Beddington!"

"Me? Angel, I'm not gonna get weird about your name! You're you, I know that."

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"You will, Crowley, you will, and then you'll never talk to me again, or-or you'll be different, it always happens-"

"Alex Carmichael!"

"And I always have so many friends, but they're not  _ real  _ friends, they're only hanging out with me because of who I am-"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"-and I hate it! You're the first real friend I've had in ages, and I don't want to lose you! Not like this!"

"Angel, really-"

"Allison Ellis!"

"You're being ridiculous, you're not going to lose me, I know you're wonderful, I'm not gonna run away-"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"-or-or treat you any differently, I promise, you and I are just gonna be-"

"Aziraphale Fell!"

"... _ Fell? _ " Aziraphale teared up, turning away from him as he went to the sorting hat. Fell?  _ The  _ Fell? As in Gabriel and Uriel Fell, the Minister for Magic's chief advisors?  _ Their  _ son? Already Crowley could hear the whispers: "Fell?  _ The  _ Fell?" "Better steer clear of him, his mom could fire my dad if I so much as look at him wrong." "Maybe if I'm friends with him mom'll get that promotion she's been wanting!"

...None of that mattered. He was still just Aziraphale, his angel, and they'd just be friends, normal friends. Whoever his parents were-

_ Your parents sound like right bastards, Aziraphale. _

Crowley winced at the memory. He'd called two of the ministry's highest-ranking officials bastards. But then...but then...that was the sort of thing Aziraphale wanted, wasn't it? Someone who wasn't afraid to call his parents bastards, someone who would speak of his parents even knowing who they were. Someone who would see Aziraphale Fell, all around nice kid, and not Aziraphale Fell, son of Gabriel and Uriel Fell. Crowley could tell that sort of person was in short supply, so he took a deep breath and pushed his thoughts away. As Aziraphale stepped up and McGonagall put the sorting hat on his head, he flashed what he hoped Aziraphale would interpret as a normal, Crowley-esque thumbs up, to show he was still on his side, nevermind who his parents were. Aziraphale closed his eyes, tears threatening to spill over. Scratch that, tears spilling over onto his cheeks. Crowley grimaced. In hindsight, maybe blurting out Aziraphale's last name in shock hadn't been the best move. Still, he promised he would find Aziraphale and make up. Somehow.

***

Aziraphale was shaking as the hat was placed on his head. Crowley would hate him now, or he wouldn't be Crowley, and he was being sorted, he  _ had  _ to be in Hufflepuff, he  _ had  _ to be, he-

_ Have to be in Hufflepuff, eh?  _ A voice muttered in his ear, causing Aziraphale to nearly jump out of his seat,  _ Oh, I see, pressure from your parents. That's rich, both your parents were Slytherins, you know...Well, you're a bright young kid, and you're loyal, very loyal, and kind too, and what a mind you've got. Oh, you're going to go far, I can tell...Well, pressure or no pressure, you're a Hufflepuff through and through. I'd say this apple has fallen miles and miles from the tree that bore it… _

"HUFFLEPUFF!" 

The Hufflepuff table erupted into cheers, and Aziraphale knew they weren't for him like the other kids. He sighed, wiping his eyes and forcing a smile as he sat down to pats on the back and people's enthusiastic introductions. He noticed several of the next students were Hufflepuffs as well. Maybe they had asked to be in Hufflepuff, to be with the son of Gabriel and Uriel Fell. Then again, maybe he was reading too much into it.

***

"Anthony Janthony!" Snickers erupted, and Crowley groaned as he walked to the hat. That was why he hadn't been called before Aziraphale. They'd used his middle name.

"It's Crowley!" he snapped to professor McGonagall, "Anthony Crowley!" She checked the list again, and thankfully corrected herself.

"Anthony Crowley!" Crowley rolled his eyes as he sat under the hat.

_ I barely even need to think with you _ , said a voice, and Crowley understood why Aziraphale had nearly fallen over.  _ You're loyal, and you got a mischievous streak...Yes, this will be easy. _

"SLYTHERIN!" Crowley sighed, offering one last smile at the Hufflepuff table. They'd see eachother later, he was sure. Crowley sat to smiles and pats on the back as well, but he had eyes only for Aziraphale, who looked like he was trying very hard to be polite amidst fake smiles and people clamouring to be his friend.


	4. First Days

As it was, they didn't see eachother until the day after. With the prefects showing them their common rooms and dormitories, and putting their things away, there was no time for exploring after dinner. The next day, however, they lucked out. Their first class was Defense Against the Dark Arts. Crowley was barely paying attention, grabbing his stuff the moment the bell rang.

"Aziraphale! Aziraphale!"

"...Crowley." He was getting the cold shoulder.

"Look, angel, I'm sorry, I was just surprised, is all. You seemed so nice, and your parents are so...not. Expected their son to be a stuck-up brat, not some nice kid who likes chocolate."

"...I didn't want you to find out, not ever."

"Ah, was bound to happen eventually, angel. Being stuck together in this castle was bound to lead to us learning some stuff we'd rather keep secret. Look at me, you think I ever wanted you to learn my middle name was Janthony? Oh, shut it," he snapped when a couple of his classmates giggled. Aziraphale smiled, just a little.

"Nothing's going to change between us?" 

"Nothing, angel. Promise. Still friends, just like we were on the train." Aziraphale nodded.

"What class do you have next?" Crowley checked his timetable and groaned.

"Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall...You?" 

"Potions with Professor Snape." He said it blandly enough, but Aziraphale looked a little put out. 

"Yeah, I hear Snape's a real hardass with the other houses. Favours his own house. Hey, you and I should have a meet-up spot!"

"A meet-up spot?" 

"Yeah! We both get time between classes, don't we? We can meet up during our breaks and have time to talk! What about...well, it'd have to be somewhere central, where we could both get to it no matter where our last class was…"

"The library?" Aziraphale suggested.

"No, somewhere closer...Look, we'll meet up outside the Great Hall if we have time for now, but then we'll both agree to keep an eye out for a good meeting spot, alright?" Aziraphale smiled, but then he surged forward and wrapped his arms around Crowley.

"Hey! Angel, what the hell?"

"I'm just...really glad you're my friend again, Crowley." Crowley flushed, quickly checked to make sure nobody was around, then wrapped his arms tightly around Aziraphale.

"Look, I'll...see you after transfiguration, alright?" 

"Alright."

***

"Crowley, what are you doing?" Crowley snickered as he stood up.

"I'm using a gluing charm to glue this galleon to the ground. Just imagine all the people that'll spend ages trying to pick it up!"

"That's mean, Crowley," Aziraphale said, but he also looked like he was trying not to smile.

"Oh, you know it'll be hilarious, angel! This'll be just like that time I transfigured a firecracker into a galleon and waited for someone to pick it up!"

" _ You  _ did that?!" Oh. Aziraphale didn't look like he was laughing anymore. "Angelina was in the hospital wing for a day! Crowley, you can't hurt people, it's wrong!" Somehow, Crowley felt miserable. Professor McGonagall had scolded him, sure, but he'd just shrugged it off. Now with Aziraphale on his case...he felt genuinely bad. He'd disappointed his angel. His angel thought he was a good person. He was wrong, of course, Crowley wasn't a good person, but…

"Fine, if it...if it bothers you that much, I'll just stick to gluing coins to the ground, okay?"

"You'd better. I don't want to hear about any other injuries that you caused, alright?"

_ Doesn't want to  _ **_hear_ ** _ about-  _ he began in his mind, but he shut himself down. Doesn't want to hear about meant Crowley didn't. Simple as that.

"Yeah. ...Sorry, angel."

"It's not me you have to apologize to, it's Angelina. We don't have time now, but after class I expect you to say you're sorry."

"Wha-" But Aziraphale glared at him, hard, and Crowley swallowed.

"...Yes."

***

"Excuse me, Angelina?" Angelina whirled, a beaming smile on her face. Whether that was because she was smitten with Aziraphale or because she was eager to be spoken to by Uriel and Gabriel's son - or both - Crowley couldn't tell. He wasn't exactly in his element right now, and he was too uncomfortable to care much, anyways.

"Oh, Aziraphale! It was so nice of you to- what is  _ he  _ doing here?"

"Angelina, Crowley has something very important he'd like to say to you. Isn't that right, Crowley?" Crowley swallowed.

"An-Angelina, um. Hi. L-listen, um. I just. I just. W-wanted to, um...Listen, I...I'm...sorry. About. The whole. Um. Thing. With...the firecracker. I, um. I'm sorry...you got hurt. I...I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt, I just thought it'd be funny. Scare someone a bit. I, um. I'm sorry. It won't. It won't happen again. To you or anyone. No more firecrackers." Crowley glanced up at Aziraphale, who smiled and nodded. Angelina looked disbelievingly between Crowley and Aziraphale. Crowley almost snorted. Yeah, Aziraphale had made him apologize. He couldn't believe it either. 

"Well…" She began, clearly choosing her words carefully, "I'm mad at you for what you did...but...I guess if you're really sorry...I can forgive you." Crowley nodded, barely looking at her. Aziraphale breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Angelina." She nodded.

"I need to head back to the dorms, I'm supposed to study with a friend. I'll...see you around, Aziraphale?"

"Yes. See you around, Angelina." Aziraphale sighed again when she had rounded a corner.

"I'm so proud of you, Crowley."

"Yeah, whatever, just don't expect to make a habit of this. I only did it because being angry doesn't suit you and I wanted you to shut up about it."

***

"Quidditch try-outs are this afternoon, you going?" Aziraphale shook his head.

"Oh no, I prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground, thank you." Crowley smirked.

"Yeah, better that way. People always get concussions playing quidditch. Wouldn't want you up there with them. Good fun to watch though, quidditch can get pretty violent."

"Crowley, that's mean." Crowley only rolled his eyes.

"They signed up for it, they know the risks. The beaters' job is to whack people, so the point is to laugh, isn't it?"

"No! The point is for the players to practice hard and avoid them. It's really only meant to get players out of the way, change their flight path, isn't it?"

"Sure, angel, whatever you say. Aren't you gonna sign up for anything, though? They've got a plant growing contest I want to sign up for.

"Oh, you grow plants?"

"Yeah, I've got a talent. What about you, though?"

"Oh, I don't know...do you think there's a charms club?"

"There's a dueling club."

"No, I can't stand dueling. No, I just want to practice my spells, learn a few more."

"Well, Professor Flitwick's the charms teacher, isn't he? Go talk to him and see what there is."

"I will, Crowley, thank you."

Later, when they met up, Aziraphale had signed up for charms club. That is, Professor Flitwick had agreed to tutor him, and it was open to anyone else who wanted to join. Crowley, on the other hand, had successfully entered his plant-growing contest.

"Look, angel!" Crowley came walking up, a little pot in his hands.

"It's a Piranha plant! Everyone who entered the contest got one, and they're going to measure in a few months and see who grew the biggest one! We can do anything except use magic to make it grow better."

"Oh, goodness, Piranha plants are dangerous, aren't they?"

"Yeah, but it won't hurt me. Besides, I know how to take care of Piranha plants, this'll be a breeze."

"Well, I'm glad you're doing something you like, anyhow."

"Yeah, thanks. And what about you, angel? Any luck with Professor Flitwick?"

"Oh, yes! He's going to teach me all kinds of charms, and anyone else who wants to go is welcome, too!"

"Well, maybe I'll check it out."

"Will you?" Aziraphale's eyes sparkled like stars, and his mouth split into a beautiful smile. Crowley both loved and hated it. He'd do anything to see that smile again. Dammit. Aziraphale was just too cute when he was happy.

"Yeah, whatever. Er...by the way…"

"Yes, Crowley?"

"Well...school's been giving me a bit of trouble, and I hear you're doing really well in your classes, so I just...I wondered if you'd like to study together, that's all."

"Oh, of course, Crowley. What do you need help with?"

"Everything except potions and defense against the dark arts." 

"Well, let's get together after our classes. In the great hall."

"Thanks, angel, you're a lifesaver."


	5. Study Session

"...Aziraphale? ...Aziraphale, hey!" Aziraphale started from where he'd been staring forlornly at the table during their study session.

"Sorry, Crowley, lost in thought. What were you saying?"

"Was asking if you were alright. You've been distracted all evening."

"Well…" Aziraphale sighed. "If you must know, I...I miss my parents."

_ Doesn't seem like they were around much anyways, I'm not even sure you know them enough to miss them _ , was the first thought in Crowley's mind, but he squashed it down.

"...First time away from home?" Aziraphale nodded.

"It's alright. Loads of people in my house cry at night 'cause they miss their parents. No shame in it. I imagine it's the same in every house."

"Well...I suppose…"

"You'll see them at Christmas, Angel. Halloween's coming soon, and then after that it's less than two months to Christmas break. You'll be back on the train home and seeing them in no time." Aziraphale's lips twitched in a smile, but then he looked away.

"You don't think...You don't…Well...Don't you think it's silly of me to miss my parents? You said they were...bad people, after all."

"I said they were right bastards, and I stand by that. No  _ good _ parent leaves their child alone at the train to Hogwarts, Aziraphale, but, look...do  _ you _ think your parents are bastards?"

"No! They're not bas...ba-bad people!"

"You love them, don't you?"

"Of course I do, they're my parents!"

"Then of course you miss them. No matter what other people think, or even whether or not your parents  _ are  _ good parents, you love your parents and you miss them. It's not wrong for you to be lonely, angel."

"Yes...I...I suppose…" Aziraphale suddenly ducked his head, and his shoulders rose almost as though to cover his face, and Crowley had some experience with that look, too.

"Oh, c'mere, angel…" He pulled Aziraphale in for a hug. Crowley was tense, not used to giving or receiving comfort and not really knowing what to do after the initial hug, but Aziraphale sagged into it anyways. He sobbed and sniffed, and Crowley awkwardly patted his back.

“There you go, angel, let it out."

"Aziraphale? Are you  _ crying _ , Aziraphale, what's wrong?"

"None of your goddamn business, now piss off, Adams!" Patricia Adams gave Crowley a dirty look and sulked off. Aziraphale's voice came, muffled and wet-sounding from Crowley's robes.

"What  _ awful  _ language, Crowley…"

"She's got no right to be gawking at you! Like she can play nice when you're upset and call herself your friend because of it! Bet she's hardly ever talked to you before today." There was a silence, one that felt rather like the precursory vibrations a really big earthquake might make right before it happened, if earthquakes did that sort of thing. It was the kind of silence long enough for one thought, and one thought only: Oh, fuck.

Aziraphale let out a miserable wail that would have made Moaning Myrtle proud.

" _ I don't have any  _ **_friends_ ** _ , Crowley!"  _ Right, Aziraphale only having friends because of his parents was a tender spot best left untouched. And Crowley had accidentally given it a good-natured punch. Shit.

"Angel,  _ no _ , don't be ridiculous, you've got  _ loads  _ of friends, everyone loves you!"

"They only _love_ me because they want me to put in a good word for their parents' next _performance review_! If it wasn't for my parents I'd be just another bookworm that spends all his time in the library because nobody wants to be his friend! I'd spend my time between classes getting hexed into _quacking like a duck_ by some Slytherins! Happened to poor Richard the other day, he was _so_ upset about it, cried for _hours_... ** _and I envied_** **_him!_** I'm an _awful_ person, Crowley, nobody would ever want to be my friend if it weren't for my parents!" Aziraphale all but fell into Crowley's arms, sobbing miserably.

"... _ I'd _ want to be your friend," Crowley said quietly. Aziraphale's unchecked sobbing continued, but he wrapped his arms more firmly around Crowley's shoulders and clutched a little harder at his back. Crowley waved his wand and muttered a soundproofing spell, pathetically late though it was at this point, so that at least Aziraphale could cry without any more of his so-called friends trying to swoop in and save the day.

***

About an hour later, when Aziraphale had stopped crying and pulled himself together, Crowley gently led him back to the barrels that led to the Hufflepuff common room.

"...How do you know where the Hufflepuff dorms are, Crowley? People from other houses aren't supposed to know," Aziraphale asked, his voice sounding exactly like one might expect: like he'd fallen apart recently and had just put himself back together and was desperately trying to keep it that way by talking about frivolous, inconsequential things.

"Know where all the dorms are. Know all the passwords, too." He leaned down and tapped the correct rhythm on the barrels, and the common room door swung open. Aziraphale smiled a little.

"They'll change the passwords now, Crowley."

"Then I'll just learn them again. Not like it's hard, angel. Besides, no one's here, they'll only change it if you tell anyone I know it. You go inside now. Get into bed, have yourself a nice long rest. See you tomorrow morning in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Yes. ...Thank you, Crowley. For...earlier."

"Don't mention it. Just...m'in your corner, Aziraphale, always, okay? Promise."

"...And I'm in yours, no matter what. Promise." Crowley tried, he really did, but the smile came to his face anyways.

"Thanks, angel. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Crowley."


	6. Eyes

Aziraphale saw Crowley's eyes. Quite by accident, too. All things considered, Aziraphale wondered how he hadn't seen them before, with how it came about.

They were talking in the corridor. Just talking. Crowley (constantly aware that Aziraphale missed his parents and was prone to crying about his lack of real friends) was regaling him with his latest prank: a galleon glued in a particularly clever area.

"It's up on the fifth floor, where barely anybody goes unless they have class. It's perfect!"

"...Why is that perfect? Nobody goes there."

"Which means there's nobody to see if you spend two hours trying to pick up a fake galleon, but you'll always know! Ligur taught me how to use the gluing charm earlier this year, right at the beginning, and I-"

Crowley's sunglasses flew off his face, accompanied by professor McGonagall's voice.

"Mr. Crowley, no sunglasses in the halls, you know the rules." She sounded like this was the fifth or sixth time she'd had to do this to him.

"Right, sorry, professor!" Crowley called, as he was still very much afraid of professor McGonagall, and was playing nice around her. She was the teacher tasked with scolding him for that exact reason. On good days, the mere threat of a scolding from her was enough to get him to behave, to the other teachers' immense relief.

McGonagall stared at him a few seconds more, during which time Crowley tried to look properly cowed, before she walked off. 

"Crowley…" Aziraphale breathed. Crowley's eyes were snake eyes, warm like golden honey, with slitted pupils, and Aziraphale was entranced.

"Yeah, they're hideous, I know. S'why I keep them covered up."

"Crowley, they're  _ gorgeous _ ! Why do you keep them covered up?" Crowley froze, staring at Aziraphale in shock.

"... _ Gorgeous? _ " 

"They're lovely, Crowley…" Crowley, to his credit, recovered surprisingly well.

"...Then I suppose it'll come as a shock for you to learn that you're the first person who's called them that. Everyone else always said they were monster eyes. Kids are vicious when they wanna be. Started covering them up when I started going outside and seeing other kids. Speaking of…" He pulled another pair of sunglasses out of his robes and put them on.

"You have a second pair?"

"And a third. Who knows when McGonagall's gonna be prowling about waiting to take off my sunglasses?"

"...Don't you lose a lot of sunglasses like that?"

"Nah, McGonagall always gives 'em back at the end of the day."

"Ah…" Crowley sighed.

"...You wanna know how someone could be born with eyes like mine."

"W-well, yes, but only if you want to share. I don't want you to be uncomfortable, Crowley…"

"Nah...It's fine, if it's you. Mum, ah...Look, angel, there's really no nice way to put this. Mum turned a snake into a human and…" Crowley gestured with his hand and Aziraphale put a hand to his mouth to cover a gasp in the most old-timey gesture Crowley had ever seen.

"Good heavens." 

"Yeah. Turns out human genes are  _ almost  _ all dominant. Almost. Except the eyes, and...I hiss when I get really scared or nervous. Most of the time I can hide it, but sometimes if I get really anxious the ‘S’s kind of trail on, you know...Well, no you wouldn't. Anyway, and I'm a parselmouth."

"Oh, how lovely!"

"...You officially have the  _ weirdest  _ definition of 'lovely' of anyone I've  _ ever met _ , and that includes my mother, who- ...I'm not gonna say it again. S'fucking gross, even for me. No regrets that woman, and it's not 'cause I'm her precious little bundle of joy, I'll tell you that much. Well. Inasmuch as she was happy to be carrying his child. I'm gonna...Not a pleasant subject. How's charms club?"

"Charms club is lovely, Crowley. I was very glad to have you there, you know. It's so much more fun when you have someone there. Professor Flitwick is wonderful, of course, but he's not my friend, not like you. I know it's not your cup of tea, though. Still, I'm learning all sorts of things! Professor Flitwick says I'm the best student he's seen in a quarter century!"

Aziraphale obligingly rambled on about charms club until Crowley was looking like himself again. Not a pleasant subject was right. Aziraphale would respect Crowley's request not to talk about it, and he never did bring it up again.


	7. Halloween

Halloween came. Crowley had to find a new trick, because he'd overused his coin trick and people stopped trying to pick up galleons off the ground. So Crowley stopped gluing galleons, which wasn't to say he stopped putting them down. He decided it was much more hilarious this way. 

"Hey, a galleon!" he'd say, stooping to pick it up.

"Crowley, it's obviously got a gluing charm on it, it's that trickster just trying t-" And then they'd watch in shock and no small amount of envy as the coin came up with no trouble.

"Yeah yeah, always worth a shot though, I say. Most times they are glued but sometimes somebody really dropped a galleon. Guess I got lucky."

After that, nobody knew what to do. They'd glare at fallen galleons, then carefully try to pick them up. It was wonderful.

More wonderful, however, was Halloween itself, where classes were cancelled for the evening and the dinner table was piled high with candy. When Crowley came over as soon as the meal was officially over (long after most kids had gone back to their dorms to get ready for bed), Aziraphale was still drooling over the chocolates.

"Oh, Crowley…" he slurred, almost sounding drunk, "It's so good, but I couldn't possibly eat another bite…"

"You're ridiculous, angel, don't you know when to stop eating?"

"Stop eating? Crowley, look at all these chocolates, they're so good, and it's Halloween, it's the one time I'm allowed to eat as much candy as I want, why would I stop? Oh, I'm so tired, I want to go to bed, but I just don't want to get up...Do you think the professors would let me sleep here?" Crowley heaved a long-suffering but ultimately fond sigh.

"No, I don't. Come on, angel, up you get, lean on me, come on." He heaved Aziraphale up, for once ignoring the groans of protest he heard. 

"I should've known you had a soft spot for something, everyone's always got something that they want enough to do bad things. For you it's candy."

"It's not bad, mother and father said that Halloween is a special occasion and I should enjoy myself." Crowley sighed.

"And did you enjoy yourself?"

"Very much so!" Aziraphale said, all beaming smiles.

"Then you can go back to the dorm to bed and dream of all the wonderful candies you ate today."

"Oh, yes, that sounds lovely, Crowley. And what about you? Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Got a couple of pranks in, yeah." A couple dozen, more like.

"Oh, good." Crowley smiled, knocking on the barrels and opening the Hufflepuff dorm for the second time in only a few weeks.

"Goodnight, Aziraphale."

"Goodnight, Crowley." He sounded positively wrecked with happiness. Crowley wouldn't have it any other way.

Crowley was grinning on the way back to the dorm and prepared to swear it was because of his newest prank: fake galleons that were actually transfigured knuts. The charm didn't wear off until hours later, though, so people were always left wondering where-

"S'a bit much, innit?" A voice asked. Crowley knew that voice. Ligur Beel, a fifth year. Bastard. Crowley steered clear of him where he could.

"No one's gonna die, Ligur. Or if they do, Madam Pomfrey's a bad nurse. Nah, she'll keep the little brats alive...probably." That was Hastur Beel, Ligur's older brother, a seventh year. The worst of the lot, but he knew how to fly under the radar. Crowley hastened his steps. Whatever they were talking about, it was  _ real  _ trouble, the kind Crowley usually made it a point not to get involved in. Hastur carried on.

"We'll bring the vampire snakes in through Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. We'll even keep the nest there, no one goes there. Then we set them loose, one by one. Imagine the chaos when kids start dropping like flies. Hear it's painful too, to have one of them latched onto you. We won't do it now, though. Bring them in over the break. Start releasing them when there are fewer kids. Maybe they'll panic and decide not to restart- what was that?" 

Crowley had hidden a few fake galleons in his pocket, and one had conveniently decided to change back, a change that created a little pop. Both boys stormed out of the bathroom, and both sets of eyes locked on Crowley. Hastur acted first, smiling dangerously.

"Hello, kiddum," he said, "You're that first year, aren't you? Anthony Janthony?" 

Crowley didn't dare correct him.

"You should be snug in your bed at this time, kiddum. Taking a nice stroll at night? In this part of the castle? Must be up to no good, am I right?" 

Crowley nodded vigorously. 

Hastur took a step towards him. Somehow he had gotten crowded against the wall.

"Well? What'cha plannin, then?" 

"I...g...galleonssss-" He clamped down on the traitorous S as hard as he could. "Fake...fake galleons." Both laughed.

"Fake galleons," Ligur said mockingly, "Little tyke fancies himself a troublemaker!" 

"Teachers'll barely even scold you for that one, Anthony, that's not real trouble. Ligur and I are up to  _ real  _ trouble. We're gonna set vampire snakes loose on the school, a whole nest of 'em, and see how many kids we can take out. Now, don't you worry your pretty little head," Hastur reached out and ruffled his hair, and Crowley flinched. "We're good boys, we're gonna make sure no one from our house gets hurt, so you've got nothing to worry about. Thing is, Ligur's a bit disorganized. Loses things. If any of the teachers found out we were planning something...a snake might get lost. Lost snake could end up anywhere. A Slytherin's pocket, maybe. Attack well before they could parseltongue their way out of trouble. You following me, kiddums? 

Crowley nodded vigorously, jaw clenched against threatening tears.

"There's a good boy. You just run along to bed now, alright, kiddums? Don't want you in trouble for staying up late."

Crowley ran.


	8. Chapter 8

"Crowley, are you alright?"

"Yeah. Angel. Fine."

"You don't look fine, Crowley, are you sick?"

"Yeah. Sick." Aziraphale looked at him, clearly skeptical.

"Crowley…"

"Miss home. Alright?" Crowley knew his angel too well. Missing home was such a sore spot for him that his heart would go out to Crowley before his brain could even consider that it was just another lie.

"Oh, Crowley, come here…" Crowley accepted the hug, resting his cheek limply against Aziraphale's shoulder.

"It's only a few more weeks, Crowley. You're going home, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Then it's only six more weeks, and then you'll be heading home for the break."

"Yeah. Thanks. Angel."

He stayed in Aziraphale’s arms for a long time. Aziraphale murmured something about seeing his parents soon, but Crowley wasn’t listening. How could he tell Aziraphale that he’d overheard something he wasn’t supposed to, and students were going to get hurt - or potentially die - because he’d been too scared to tell anyone? 

He could tell Aziraphale. In private. Aziraphale could go crying, literally crying, to professor McGonagall, and she’d comfort him and put a stop to it right away. Nobody had to know that Crowley had told Aziraphale first, he could say he’d been hiding. Hell, he could come crying to professor McGonagall because he’d seen Hastur and Ligur threatening his dear friend Crowley not to tell anyone about something. Then they’d come and wring the truth out of him, and he could beg and cry and plead with the teachers not to make him say anything, because Hastur and Ligur would kill him, and there would be no way Hastur and Ligur could go after him then, could they?

...No, but they could go after Aziraphale. It would be Aziraphale, not Crowley, to find a vampire snake in his pocket, and Aziraphale didn’t have parseltongue to get out of that. He’d be one of the potentially dead students. No way. Crowley would keep this to himself. He’d keep it to himself, and he’d use his parseltongue to keep Aziraphale safe. The other kids...Crowley felt a few tears slip out. So many kids, potentially dying...It hurt so much to think about, but the thought of what Hastur and Ligur would do to him if he told anyone was worse. He would keep quiet. He would hate himself for it.

“...Who knows? Maybe your father will come back this Christmas, and he’ll give you a little toy train that runs around the carpet all on its own and drives your mother mad, like me.” The mental image pulled Crowley from his dark thoughts, and it was so absurd that it startled a laugh out of him. And then he was gone, laughing into Aziraphale’s shoulder so hard he couldn’t breathe, so hard he had tears coming out of his eyes. He clutched Aziraphale’s robes to keep himself upright, and he knew kids were staring but he couldn’t bring himself to care. All of his dark thoughts had been temporarily pushed to the back of his mind, and he wouldn’t let go of this moment for the world. 

When his thoughts came back and he sobered, he pulled away, wiping his eyes.

“...Thanks, angel. I needed that.” 

“Anytime, Crowley. I’m in your corner too, remember?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

So Crowley kept quiet about what he had heard. As the days crept closer and closer to Christmas break, Crowley talked more and more about his father, if only so that he and Aziraphale could discuss the increasingly ridiculous Christmas presents he’d bring, and the increasingly cringey ways he’d try to make up for lost time with Crowley and bond with him. The mental images never failed to make him laugh, and he needed that right now. Aziraphale, who may or may not have suspected by now that something was bothering Crowley beyond the typical homesickness, indulged him, always.

“Snakeskin boots,” Aziraphale suggested, "Dad bought those for mum one year." Crowley barked a laugh.

“My father the cannibal, I love it. How do you think snakes punish that sort of thing?”

"They don’t. Murdering one of your own kin is considered a sign of strength. He did it to show how wonderful he was and to impress you.” Crowley snorted.

“...A bludger. He’s a snake, he doesn’t play quidditch, he wouldn’t know that it tries to kill you the second you let it out of the box.”

“Or a golden snitch,” Aziraphale added, “It’s a lovely present, but it runs away, never to be seen again mere seconds after you open it. Better yet, perhaps he’ll bring something sensible. Like...oh, I don’t know...a potted plant.”

“That would actually be really nice. Dad, coming home, a little plant in tow as an apology. I wouldn’t be forgiving.”

“Of course not,” Aziraphale said indulgently.

***

"What are you going to do over the holidays, Crowley?" Aziraphale asked a week before classes finished. Aziraphale had been practically vibrating with excitement for days, eager as he was to get home and see his parents again. The holidays were all he ever talked about now, both his and Crowley's pretend one with his snake father. Crowley shrugged.

"Oh, nothing much. Play some games, that sort of thing. Same old, same old, mum doesn't do much for holidays. Maybe she'll cook a special dinner if she's feeling generous or something. Mostly the same as always. You?"

"My parents always make a  _ wonderful _ Christmas dinner, and they always buy me spellbooks to read, and warm clothes and that. And I can ask for anything, anything I want, and they'll give it to me. Mum sang to me until I fell asleep last year. Do you think maybe this year I could ask dad to teach me a new spell?"

"That sounds lovely, angel," Crowley replied, suddenly thinking about how sad it was that basic parent-child bonding time was a Christmas gift in Aziraphale's house.

"Wonder if I should ask for a specific spell? No, let him choose. Anything he teaches me will be the best Christmas present ever!"

***

"Oh, Crowley!"

"Hello, Aziraphale! What brings you down to our humble common room?" They were just outside the door; Aziraphale had clearly been waiting.

"I found a place for us to meet up!"

"Come again?"

"A meetup spot, remember, you said if I found a spot to meet up to tell you, right? Well, listen, there's a special room on the fifth floor I found! Come on, I'll show you!" Considering Aziraphale was practically dragging him by the hand already, it seemed he had little choice in the matter. He smiled indulgently and went along with it.


	9. Christmas

The day before the students were set to leave home for Christmas break, everything went to shit quite spectacularly.

Aziraphale didn’t show up for charms class.

Aziraphale  _ always  _ showed up for charms. He had a perfect attendance record, and he sat each and every class staring at professor Flitwick with rapt attention and galaxies full of stars in his eyes. Crowley had even learned not to try to talk to Aziraphale during charms class, because he’d only be shushed.

Aziraphale didn’t show up for charms class. And Crowley panicked. 

He went to the hospital wing first, fearing the absolute worst. Hastur and Ligur had decided to set a vampire snake on Aziraphale as further warning to Crowley.

He wasn’t there.

He went back and asked professor Flitwick if he knew why Aziraphale had missed class. He didn’t know. In fact, he was worried, too. 

He asked Patricia Adams, but she was still snippy about Crowley’s behaviour last time they talked, and told him to piss off. He asked Hufflepuff after Hufflepuff, and none of them had seen him. Not many of them seemed to care, but it could have easily been Crowley their apathy was directed towards. Finally, a Hufflepuff prefect came to find him. She had thick black hair that bounced as she walked, and a stern look on her face, and Crowley wondered if he was about to be told off.

“Heard you’ve been asking about Aziraphale.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“He’s in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom, crying. Won’t let anybody near him. ‘Cept of course Moaning Myrtle.” Crowley’s blood went cold. Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom was where Hastur and Ligur were going to bring the snakes. He nodded in thanks to the prefect, reminding himself to ask Aziraphale for her name later so he could find some way to thank her, and set off running. Distantly, he wondered how she could have looked stern to him. She was obviously an angel. A thick-haired, beautiful angel.

As the prefect had said, the sound of Aziraphale’s wails could be heard the closer he got to the bathroom, along with Moaning Myrtle herself, soothing him in the gentlest possible voice. Moaning Myrtle had been bullied at Hogwarts, hadn’t she? Just like Aziraphale had a soft spot for missing home, Moaning Myrtle probably had a soft spot for kids crying alone in a bathroom. He walked in, and Moaning Myrtle jumped to Aziraphale's defense, all but appearing right in his face.

“GO AWAY!!! CAN’T YOU SEE HE WANTS TO BE LEFT ALONE?!?!”

“N-no...Myrtle...Crowley’s my friend…” She backed off to Aziraphale’s side, but kept a warning eye on Crowley nonetheless. Crowley approached slowly, glancing around the bathroom. No vampire snake nests to be found. He breathed a sigh of relief, sitting down next to Aziraphale.

“...Gonna have to apologize to professor Flitwick,” Crowley began, trying to maintain a casual air and falling just short, “Was gonna send a search party, tear the castle apart until he found you. Lost his mind when you missed charms, he was sure you were bleeding out in an alley somewhere.” 

“I don’t care,” Aziraphale sobbed, “I’m never going to charms again, I’m never going to any of my classes ever again!” Crowley neglected to point out that there were only three classes left today, and Christmas break was two weeks long, which gave Aziraphale plenty of time to calm down. That definitely would not help the situation.

“Wonderful, going to lead a life of crime like me? Skip classes to lay down fake galleons?” Aziraphale ignored him.

“I’d be happy to show you the ropes, angel...For a price.”

“...What price?” Aziraphale finally said. This was good, he was responding.

“A hug,” Crowley replied.

“A...hug?”

“You heard me. A hug. The longer you hug me, the longer I spend teaching you how to glue coins later.” There was a terse silence, before Aziraphale wrapped his arms around Crowley. Half a second later the tears had restarted.

“I hate them, Crowley! I hate them!”

“Absolute fucking bastards,” Crowley agreed without even knowing what was going on.

“Why couldn’t they have told me earlier?!”

“Because they’re bastards, Aziraphale, it’s what bastards do.” Aziraphale sobbed, and Moaning Myrtle backed off a little, clearly seeing that Aziraphale was in good hands.

“You have yourself a nice good cry, Aziraphale, alright?” Aziraphale nodded into Crowley's robes before looking up.

“Thank you, Myrtle," he said wetly, "You’ve been so wonderful.” Moaning Myrtle looked stunned...And then teary-eyed.

“Oh, Aziraphale...That’s so nice...Nobody’s ever said that to me before…!” And she disappeared dramatically into a toilet, sobbing loudly.

"...What happened, angel?" Crowley asked quietly when her wails had dimmed down to nothing and Aziraphale had buried his face in Crowley's robes again.

"They forgot to tell me before I boarded the  _ train _ , Crowley! They've known all this time, and they never told me!" Aziraphale's parents. Ah, shit. At this point, Crowley was almost afraid to ask.

"Forgot to tell you what, angel?" He spoke quietly, as though softening his voice would soften the blow of having to say it aloud somehow.

"They're going to be away in America until February!  **_I can't come home for Christmas!_ ** " Aziraphale all but screamed the words, sobbing so loud it echoed off the walls. Crowley said something even his mother would have raised her eyebrows at, but Aziraphale kept right on crying. 

Crowley was stunned. Aziraphale had been talking about going home for  _ weeks _ now, since before Halloween, even. To think that Aziraphale's parents had known he wouldn't be able to come home before he'd even boarded the train...and had waited until the day before Christmas break to tell him?! He couldn't even fathom how Aziraphale's heart must have been broken. How would he ever recover from this? There must be a limit, even to Aziraphale's seemingly endless capacity for forgiveness when it came to his parents. And it was too late to tell his mother he wouldn't be coming home...He'd have to leave Aziraphale. Here. Alone. For the whole break. He pulled Aziraphale in closer, one arm around his back and the other gently pressing Aziraphale's head into his shoulder.

"Oh, angel...I'm so, so sorry...I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry…Shh…I'm sorry angel, I'm so sorry...Shh, it's okay...I've got you, Aziraphale, let it out…"

Aziraphale cried himself to sleep in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom that night. When Aziraphale's grip went slack Crowley left and got the nameless Prefect, and she tenderly picked him up and carried him to bed. Crowley asked her to tuck Aziraphale in for him.

***

"...Good...goodbye, Crowley." They were on the train platform, and Aziraphale was in tears. Crowley had pulled his angel in for a hug, and was finding it harder to let go with each passing second.

"I'll write every day, angel, promise." Aziraphale nodded, sniffling.

"I'll send you a postcard from my hometown." Aziraphale sobbed again.

"I'll see you in two weeks, Aziraphale. Count them, fourteen letters." Aziraphale nodded.

"...Fourteen letters," he agreed weakly. Aziraphale pulled away, openly crying. Crowley forced a smile, for Aziraphale's sake.

"Be back together before you know it, eh?" Aziraphale nodded, and Crowley hugged him one more time before waving and climbing aboard the train. Crowley sat in a compartment alone and locked the door, not that anyone would want to sit with him, anyways. When the whistle sounded, he smiled and waved at Aziraphale, quickly fogging the glass and drawing a snake and a boot. Aziraphale smiled tearfully, waving back at him. They watched eachother until they couldn't see eachother anymore.

Two seconds later Crowley drew the curtains, curled up on the seat, buried his face in his knees, and cried.


	10. Talking About Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bolded and Italicized text is parseltongue, for reference. In the original google doc I had the text purple for a more obvious way to tell but colours don't work apparently. So bold and italicized. It'll probably be awkward to read, but as of right now I don't know how else to show. If anyone has any suggestions, though, I'd be glad to hear them.

_ Angel, _

_ I'm writing this while still on the train home, technically. Letter one of fourteen. I hope you're counting, because I know I am. Anyways, I figured I could tell you about the train ride back.  _

_ It's boring. It's impossibly dull without you. That's it, that's my letter, see you tomorrow. _

_...Kidding. I am running out of things to talk about, though. Scenery's nice, I guess. Ordered fudge cakes from the trolley.  _ (Bad move: They had made him think of Aziraphale. Crowley had cried while unwrapping one.)  _ They were nice and...fudgey. Chocolate's more your thing. Anyway, I'll end this letter off now. By tomorrow I'll be home with my mother. Ugh. I say that like there'll be a loving reunion or something. There won't. She'll take me home, won't even bother to ask about my grades.  _

_ Ciao, angel. _

_ Crowley _

_ *** _

“Anthony.”

“Mum.”

“What is that?”

“Piranha plant. I’m growing it for a contest.”

“Is it dangerous?”

“No. I’ll keep it in my room, and tell it not to attack.”

“...Let’s go home.”

“Yep.”

***

_ Angel, _

_ Letter two of fourteen. Only twelve more to go. I’m back home now. Been sitting at home doing nothing. I have to admit, it’s nice, being at home. Warmer in the house. I wasn’t entirely truthful with you, angel, my father does live at home with us. It’s just, well...he’s a snake. Mum had the whole house turned into a huge terrarium for him. Crazy hot all the time, soil and stuff for him to burrow in, the whole deal. I rather like the heat. Maybe it’s because of my snake blood, maybe it’s because I just got used to the temperature being raised in this house. Anywho. It’s nice. I don’t need to worry about anyone laughing at my eyes or nothing. Only downside is that mom insists I speak parseltongue all the time. She doesn't speak...well, Speak, parseltongue, you understand, but she wants me to be more snake than human. Take that as you will. Still, doesn’t exactly help with the hissing thing when I have to talk to humans. Dinner’s always fun. Mom and I eat, dad digests whatever animals he found in the garden. We’re a weird household, angel. Then again, better to be weird on the outside than weird on the inside, right? Anyway, talk later. Mom doesn’t want me spending too long writing. Truth be told, she thinks I’m doing my homework right now. (Did we even have homework? It’s as good an excuse as any, right?) _

_ Ciao, Angel _

(“Did we even have any homework?” Aziraphale laughed at that, and made it a point to remind Crowley about the two rolls of parchment on the uses of the bezoar, and the roll of parchment on transfiguring inanimate objects, and the roll of parchment on the lumos spell for charms.)

***

“Anthony.”

“Yeah, mom?”

“You look unwell.”

“...Stress from school.”

“ **Don’t** lie to me, Anthony.”

"It's private. I'll talk to dad about it later."

"Talk to him about it now."

***

_**“Dad?”** _ Crowley hissed to his father. His father slithered up to rest on Crowley's lap. His son was always more partial to him than his mother. The parselmouth in him. And the fact that Bea was not the openly affectionate type, compared to him.

_**"Crowley,"** _ he hissed back,  _**"Your mother is angry with you."** _ Being incapable of understanding human speech, he made a point not to judge interactions too soon.

_**"Yeah. She knows I'm upset and wants me to talk to you about it. I said I'd do it later but I guess she didn't believe me."** _ That seemed accurate; Bea was currently glaring suspiciously at her son.

_**"And this requires a serpent's knowledge?"** _ He guessed. What other problems could his son be having in the human world that required his father's expertise? Crowley shrugged in response. His beautiful, serpentine pupils were slits and his golden irises were blown wide, had been since he'd first arrived home; a sign of stress. Crowley liked to keep things inside, so he didn't pry, but he was glad he would be able to help. 

_**"I...overheard something I wasn't meant to at school. Now...now...a friend of mine is in danger, and...I need your help to keep him safe."** _

_**"I will do everything I can to keep your human friend safe, Crowley. How can I help? What did you hear that you weren't supposed to?"** _

_**"These...two kids...they're going to release vampire snakes on the kids at school."** _ He hissed. Vampire snakes were bad news, especially for humans. To know that it was humans releasing them, intentionally...

_**"These two humans intend to kill their own kind?"** _

_**"No. Well...probably. Hastur says the nurse at school should be able to keep them alive."** _

_**"Then this Hastur intends to inflict suffering on his own kind."** _

_**"What are vampire snakes? Can I talk to them? Convince them to stop?"** _

_**"Vampire snakes earned their name for a reason, Crowley. Could you convince me not to eat?"** _ Crowley fell silent.

_**"...I could convince you that...that one very special mouse was off-limits, though, couldn't I? If I got a pet or something?"** _

_**"...Why do you not get rid of the snake, if you don't want it eating your mice?"** _

_**"They said...if any of the teachers found out about the snakes...they'd set one loose on me. They said it'd attack before I had a chance to parseltongue my way out. I don't…I don't want to get hurt. I know it's cowardly of me, but…"** _ He hissed a soothing sound to his son.

_**"Never blame yourself for doing what you must to avoid harm. So, you cannot tell anyone what you know. Vampire snakes are going to be set loose on the school, and you have one special friend you want to protect."** _ Crowley nodded.

_**"What even are vampire snakes, dad?"** _

_**"Vampire snakes feed on human blood. They attach themselves to the victim's neck and remain there until they have drained their victims dry. Vampire snakes are small, but they stretch to be as large as a human when they are feeding. One human sustains a vampire snake for months afterwards."** _

_**"Which means...only a few students are going to be attacked?"** _

_**"Yes. An average nest can contain up to eight snakes. Two more if the parents are involved. Ten students at your school are at risk. The chances of it being your special friend are slim, unless he has a tendency to wander at night."** _

_**"Students aren't allowed out of their dorms after dinner."** _

_**"And your friend obeys these rules?"** _

_**"Yeah. Wouldn't break them for anything."** _

_**"Then he is probably safe. Still, I will teach you to watch for snakes. I will hide, and attempt to sneak attack you the way a vampire snake would. It will be your job to spot me and tell me to stop."** _

_**"Will they listen?"** _

_**"If you tell them not to attack you or your human friend, yes. Have your mother teach you a defensive spell, just in case."** _ Crowley nodded, but he noticed his son still looked upset.

_**"I believe in you, Crowley. You care deeply for this human friend, you will keep him safe.”** _

_**“...What if he gets hurt, dad?”** _

_**“Then the fault is on the humans who would willingly and intentionally endanger their own kind, not on you for failing to stop it.”** _ He nodded at Bea, who seemed satisfied.

“Thank you, Anthony,” she said, “You need to talk about things.”

“Yeah.”


	11. Back at School

_ Aziraphale, _

_ Letter three of fourteen. The holidays are going well for me. Hope they’re going well for you, too. I realize I haven’t asked how your holidays are going. Talk to professor Flitwick, have him teach you some new charms and stuff. Maybe you’ll learn to transfigure your piece of shit parents into teapots so they’ll sing to you once in a while. I just want to make sure you’re keeping yourself distracted. I hate to think you’re spending your holidays alone in the common room, crying. Go out. Make snow angels or something. Try to have some fun. _

_ Ciao, angel _

_ *** _

Crowley yelped as a large, firm weight landed on the back of his neck, nearly knocking him over. Half a second later the weight wrapped itself around his waist to steady itself and a tongue flicked out at his neck.

_**“Got you,”** _ his father said playfully.

_**“How was I supposed to know you were gonna attack from behind?!” Crowley demanded.** _

_**“Are your vampire snakes always going to attack from the front?”** _

_**“...No…”** _

**_“Exactly. We’ll try again. You’ll succeed. With my blood in your veins, I have no doubt you’re better equipped to spot snakes than anyone else.”_ **

_**“Right.”** _ His father gave him a playful nudge on the cheek, and Crowley smiled.

***

***

_ Crowley, _

_ Something awful has happened at school! A vampire snake got loose in the school and it attacked Michael Park, from Gryffindor house! They found him in the Gryffindor common room, and nobody knows how the snake even got there! Michael’s in the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey’s doing what she can to keep him alive. Professor Snape has started brewing a potion that will save him, but it’ll take months! These snakes aren’t native to here, but Crowley, they kill people. Jessica said that Michael would be dead by now if it weren’t for Madam Pomfrey. It’s scary to think about. They’re not native to this part of the world, so the teachers are all thinking somebody brought them here! The few students that are here are terrified, even more so because the teachers are terrified too! I overheard Professor McGonagall asking if they were going to close the school! And that snake somehow got into the Gryffindor common room! It’s scary to think about. They’ve set curfew even earlier than usual because these snakes only come out at night. They think Michael was awake just for a little midnight sit by the fire when the snake got him...It’s terrifying to think about, Crowley! How many snakes are there? Was that the only one? Oh, I can’t wait for you to be back here after the holidays, at least then I wouldn't be alone… _

_ Aziraphale _

***

***

_ Angel, _

_ Letter thirteen of fourteen. I’m all packed and ready to go back. I'll be back tomorrow, angel, just hang on until then. In the meantime, stay as close as you can to teachers. Go to your charms club. Whatever this snake thing is about, we’ll face it together. Don’t worry, angel.  _

_ See you tomorrow, _

_ Crowley _

***

_**“You’ve done well, Crowley. I can’t sneak up on you at all. Your friend is going to be alright, with you. Stay at his side as much as you can, and don’t let your guard down. Remember, only ten students will be at risk if this Hastur releases the vampire snakes.”** _

_**“Nine. Aziraphale told me a kid named Michael got attacked in the common room.”** _

_**“So much the better. There is now one less snake that can harm your friends.”** _

_**“Dad. That’s…”** _

_**“You cannot protect the other students. Your priority is your special friend, and now he has less chance of being attacked. It is unfair to the other students, but beneficial to your friend. Keep him safe, worry about the others if and when you can.”** _

_**“Yes.”** _

_**“He will be fine.”** _

_**“I hope so.”** _

_**“I know so. I believe in you, Crowley.”** _

***

Aziraphale was in tears when Crowley stepped off the train. He opened his arms and Aziraphale came running into them, sobbing.

“S’alright, angel, I’m here now."

"Oh, Crowley...another student's been attacked!" He hissed, to cover up his relief. As his father had said, that was one less snake for him to worry about, less chance of Aziraphale getting hurt.

"Again?"

"The teachers think there's a nest, Crowley, but they can't find it! They've turned the whole school upside down, and nothing!" Aziraphale stopped, smiling to himself, ever so slightly.

"McGonagall was in the Hufflepuff dorms, looking. I...I definitely know what you mean, when you say she scares you. I've never seen her like that. She kicked us all right out, it was terrifying." Crowley chuckled.

"She is terrifying. Look, how about we go to the great hall, alright? You can tell me all about the great spells you learned over the holidays." 

"Yes! That sounds lovely." 


	12. First Day Back

"So!" Crowley said, "I know you learned some exciting things with professor Flitwick."

"I did! He taught me how to summon things, can you believe that? Look!" Aziraphale turned, pointed his wand at a stack of fudge cakes at another table, concentrated, then said: "Accio fudge cake."

Immediately one of the fudge cakes jumped off the table and sailed towards Aziraphale, who caught it, unwrapped it, and started eating it.

"That's...cool," Crowley said, stunned.

"Isn't it? Professor Flitwick said this is a spell fourth years learn! He's surprised I even got the hang of it!"

"You've learned so much, angel. That brain of yours is something." Aziraphale beamed.

"That's very nice of you, Crowley."

"Oh, shut it, I'm not nice. Nice is a four letter word, and I'm not any of those."

"You are for me, Crowley."

Crowley spluttered, having no response. Desperate to cover the blushing, he scrambled for another conversation topic.

"So, er...this whole...business...Are they going to restart classes tomorrow?" Crowley winced at his choice of topic.

"Well, yes," Aziraphale replied, "otherwise they wouldn't have let the students come back. But there are new rules coming into place to help stop the attacks. The curfew, obviously...Oh, six pm. They're cancelling the last two classes of the day to have an earlier supper so we can be back in our dorms earlier. We're safer there, even if that one Gryffindor did get attacked in the common room. And teachers are going to escort us to and from our classes. And some of the ghosts, too."

"Ghosts? What can they do?"

"Well, one or two of the ghosts here are parselmouths, so if they see a snake coming they'll tell it to stop." Crowley mentally sighed with relief. The other students had parselmouth ghosts on their side, they wouldn't be completely defenceless. He wished he could write a letter and tell his dad the good news, but with his mom not being able to Speak...nothing to do but wait till Spring Break.

"Well...look, we'll get through this, okay? What classes do you have tomorrow?"

"Charms, potions, and then History of Magic."

"Alright. Get through tomorrow, and then tomorrow, and then tomorrow, and this whole thing'll be cleared up before you know it." Aziraphale smiled.

"You're such an optimist, Crowley. That's a wonderful trait to have." Crowley only snorted, and then he remembered something.

"Oh! By the way, angel, there's a prefect in your house."

"There are several, Crowley."

"Yeah, but there's one. A girl. Curly black hair, in a little afro?"

"Oh, that'll be Susan. Yes, she's wonderful. Very strict with the rules, but she's very kind when you aren't breaking any."

"Yeah, listen, I'd like to get her a gift. What does she like?"

"Well...I don't really know. She's a fifth year, so we don't exactly hang around much. I see her studying in the library, and of course she comes to make sure the first years are sticking to the rules and not wandering around at night."

"Think she'd like a book?"

"Well...I don't know. It's as good a gift as any."

***

A day of classes seemed to do wonders for Aziraphale, as by the end of it he was babbling almost nonstop about what he had learned in his classes.

"We learned about lifting things in charms! I knew the spell already, but practicing it was so much fun! And History of Magic! Professor Binns was telling us all about the sixteenth century, like he was actually there, and I'll bet…" Aziraphale stopped talking, stopped walking, and by the time Crowley looked over at him he'd already dropped to his knees and was falling to the side.

"ANGEL!!!" Crowley dove to his knees, just barely catching Aziraphale's head before it could hit stone, and rolled him over. His eyes were closed, and Crowley saw a speckled snake, no bigger than six inches long, attached to his angel's neck. How could this have happened? He'd been keeping an eye out!! He'd...he'd gotten entranced by Aziraphale and stopped watching. Fuck, fuck,  _ fuck! _

"Shit...angel? Angel? Aziraphale, talk to me!"

"Crow...Crowley…" His eyelids fluttered, once. It looked like he was fighting to stay awake, but Crowley knew it was a losing battle. His eyes stung.

"I feel so...foggy...There's a mist…Can't...fight it...Crowley, I'm…" His eyes were closed, and Aziraphale lost the fight with consciousness, his mouth going slack.

"...scared…"

"Angel? Angel, no, hey, talk to me! Angel! Aziraphale! ...HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Crowley gave up any attempts at self-control, pulling Aziraphale close to him and sobbing. The vampire snake hissed a warning at him, and Crowley responded with a spitting hiss so forceful it shocked even him. And then he remembered that he was a parselmouth.

**_"He's my friend! Get off of him!"_ **

**_"I can't, I'm feeding."_** Crowley opened his mouth to hiss, but what came out was a wail.

"...HELP!!!" He shouted again, hating how wet his voice sounded. He took Aziraphale's hand and sobbed again, noting how cold the angel's usually warm hands were.

"Help!" His voice failed him, and he broke down into tears fully. He was alone. Aziraphale was going to die because he hadn't been watching. The grief, the  _ guilt _ , was crushing him, and Crowley had never felt so hopeless and alone, in his whole life.

Professor McGonagall came bustling down the corridor, drawn by the shouting. It felt to Crowley like there was hope for Aziraphale yet, that Crowley wouldn't be alone after all. 

"Mr. Crowley, what- good heavens." She knelt down beside Aziraphale, eyes softening. 

"Another one, then…" She murmured. Crowley turned to professor McGonagall, eyes wide and pleading.

"Help him, professor…" he begged and, not for the first time, McGonagall found herself bemused that these two could have ever become friends in the first place. Crowley was a troublemaker, and Aziraphale would die before putting a single toe out of line. They were complete opposites in every way. It was ridiculous...and it was perfect. Aziraphale Fell was a light in Anthony Crowley's otherwise bleak existence, and it was clear in his eyes at that moment how much that spark of light meant to him.

"...Let's get him to Madam Pomfrey," she said, waving her wand and lifting Aziraphale up onto the stretcher she'd just created. She stood up and began to walk briskly in the direction of the hospital wing, Aziraphale floating behind her on the stretcher.

"Is he going to okay, professor?"

"Yes, of course he will. Professor Snape is brewing up the potion that will detach the snakes from their victims, and Madam Pomfrey is keeping the afflicted students alive until then. He's going to be spending the next two months or so in the hospital wing, but once that potion is ready he'll be right as rain." Crowley nodded, and said nothing more.

"We've got another one, Poppy," McGonagall said, bustling through the door.

"Oh good heavens, another? Just how many vampire snakes were set loose in this school?" She scoffed. "Put him here, then." As soon as Aziraphale was on the bed, she bustled over with a bottle of blood-red liquid that she poured into Aziraphale's mouth.

"There," she said with finality, "Regular doses of that will help keep him alive until the potion is finished."

"He'll be alright now, Mr. Crowley," Professor McGonagall said, "You'd best be getting back to your dormitory now." Crowley stood still, staring at Aziraphale. Aziraphale, who always pushed him to do the right thing. Aziraphale, who tolerated his pranks, even laughed at them, but scolded him worse than his parents ever did if anyone got hurt. Aziraphale, who always said he was so brave…Aziraphale, who was lying in the hospital wing with a snake draining the life out of him because he'd been cowed into keeping his trap shut.

...No more. He tugged on Professor McGonagall's robes.

"...Hastur."

"Pardon?"

"Hastur. He did this. He brought the snakes in through the pipes in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He made me swear not to tell anybody...Please, Professor, you can't let him find out I told you, you have no idea what he'd do to me…" She nodded.

"I give you my word that he won't find out. Now, run off to bed, Mr. Crowley."

"...Yes, Professor." He turned, he left. 


	13. Potion

The next day, rumours started circulating about one of the professors following a snake and finding the nest in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.

The day after that, one Hastur Beel was expelled from Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

Hastur, cruel as he was, had forgotten that vampire snakes have long memories, even from the eggs, and all it took to ascertain the identity of the culprit was to have one of the school ghosts who happened to be a parselmouth politely ask who had brought the snakes there. Even if they had never seen the person who brought them there, even if they didn't speak English, they remembered how the words had sounded and easily verified the authenticity of the segment of conversation Crowley had overheard.

Ligur Beel was suspended for the rest of the year for his part in the whole affair.

All of which is a long way of saying that Professor McGonagall was as good as her word, and the name Anthony Crowley was not so much as brought up.

None of that mattered, though. The rest of the vampire snakes had been found and released back into the wild, sure, but that didn't change the fact that his angel was still in the hospital wing, and the snake attached to his neck got bigger and fatter by the week, feasting itself on Aziraphale's blood. And it would continue to do so for the next two months until the potion was ready.

Crowley cut classes. Of course he did. His teachers tried and tried to get him to study, but they knew it was useless. They could dock as many points as they felt, but they knew that Crowley wouldn't care how many points he was losing. Aziraphale was his priority, staying by his side trumped all else. He came to class when it suited him on his best days, but now he came to class if he felt that going to classes would be a suitable distraction from his worry. (Even that was generous. Crowley went to class if he overheard that they would be studying something he knew his angel would like to hear about later. Coincidentally, his attendance record for charms became spotless.

And so it happened that one day, Crowley was sitting by Aziraphale's side when Madam Pomfrey came toward Aziraphale with a cup of that same blood-red liquid.

"What does that stuff do?" Crowley asked.

"It replenishes his lost blood," she replied curtly. Crowley fell silent as she tipped the liquid down Aziraphale's throat. So Aziraphale was alive, not because they were slowing the blood-draining process, but because they were making sure he didn't run out of blood. That was...Crowley swallowed.

As soon as she was done, Madam Pomfrey bustled off to pour the liquid down her next patient's throat. What had that Gryffindor kid's name been again? Daniel? Michael? Wait, Park, Michael Park, that was it. Korean kid, Park was a typical Korean last name and yet loads of people assumed he was Chinese and he got pissed off about it. ...Then again, why did he care? He was here for Aziraphale, Michael Park was just some Gryffindor kid. (Some Gryffindor kid he'd failed to keep safe. Maybe after this he'd try to get to know the guy or something.) 

After that, Madam Pomfrey bustled off to take care of the third student, and then away to take care of some other business. Possibly to give him time alone with Aziraphale, now he thought of it. Kids always said Madam Pomfrey was nice without actually being nice outright. Never made sense until now.

Crowley sat in silence as he always did, holding his angel's hand. He was so cold. It didn't fit Aziraphale, who was always so warm. He burned like the sun usually, so warm and perfect and wonderful. It hurt to touch him when he was so cold like this, but maybe Crowley could transfer some of his heat to him. Or something.

"C...Crowley…" Crowley's eyes locked on his angel's face, noting the scrunched appearance, watching every twitch for even the slightest hint of a flutter of eyelashes.

"Angel? Angel, I'm here angel, it's alright, I'm right here, Aziraphale, I'm right here." He had so much he wanted to say. I'm sorry this happened, I'm sorry I was too much of a coward to tell Professor McGonagall right away, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, I'm sorry I can't help you now, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry-

"Crowley, I-I'm scared…" Aziraphale's hand squeezed his, and Crowley returned the squeeze immediately.

"I'm so cold...it hurts…"

"I...I know, angel, Professor Snape's brewing up a potion and you'll be just fine, okay? Just hold on a little longer."

"P...po...tion…?"

"Yeah! I heard it's a special potion that'll get this big ugly snake right off you, and then you'll be fine! And as soon as that snake is off you I'm gonna burn it to bits! Burn it right to ashes so it won't ever hurt you ever again!"

"That's...mean…" 

"...Aziraphale?" Aziraphale's face was starting to go slack.

"Aziraphale, stay with me, okay? I just-I just got you back, I can't lose you, not so soon!"

"Crow...ley...stay...strong...re...member? Hold...on…" The angel was comforting  _ him _ ? Just when Crowley thought Aziraphale couldn't get any more selfless, he had to pull something like this.

"...Yeah. Yeah, angel, you're right. You've got it rough right now, so if you can stay strong, then so can I, right? ...Angel? Angel?"

He was asleep again. Crowley buried his face in Aziraphale's stomach, pushing away the snake's body, and willed himself not to cry.

(He cried.)


	14. Gabriel Fell

He wrote a letter to his father. Well, he wrote a letter to his mother asking her to read the letter to his father, then proceeded to write two whole pages of what looked like gibberish, but was in fact the closest English approximation of parseltongue he could think of. Hopefully his father would get the message, which was, essentially, I failed to keep my friend safe and he has to wait two months before the potion that will save him is ready and isn't there a faster way? He's in pain!

Three weeks later, he received a reply, written in parseltongue-English gibberish. He found a private spot and read the letter aloud so he could try to translate it. It read like so:

_ No, there is no faster way. I am sorry for your friend. It is not your fault. _

That was it. Then again, that made sense. Hissing in Parseltongue to a person who didn’t speak Parseltongue, and then having that person try to translate the nonsensical hissing into words on paper...Well, that was nigh-on impossible. His father had probably decided to keep the letter short for his mother’s sake.

***

Crowley was sitting next to Aziraphale. He’d asked Madam Pomfrey what time she gave him the red stuff, and how often, and now he made sure to be by Aziraphale’s side every time it happened. Those few minutes of consciousness were the highlights of his life right now, those precious few moments where he could read a spellbook to Aziraphale, or blather on about what he’d learned in charms class. (“You...went to...charms…?” Aziraphale had asked the first time he’d mentioned it.) Madam Pomfrey had just given him his potion, and Crowley was waiting for his angel to wake up. Crowley had finally figured out "Wingardium Leviosa" and was eager to share.

"Crowley…"

"I'm here, angel, I'm-"

"WHERE IS MY SON?!" Crowley flinched, and Aziraphale's face contorted in pain.

"Crowley...get...away…" Heeding Aziraphale's advice, Crowley picked up his chair and swung it around so it was behind Michael Park's bed, putting his head down like he'd fallen asleep at Michael's bedside. Perfect timing, too, as he peeked through a gap in his arms just in time to watch Gabriel Fell himself storm into the hospital wing, heading straight for Aziraphale.

Crowley immediately developed a new respect for Madam Pomfrey, who whisked around Gabriel to stand between him and Aziraphale, refusing to be cowed into submission.

"Mr. Fell, Aziraphale needs  _ rest _ , and he certainly can't get that with you shouting to the heavens!"

"I will not be kept from my son! I trusted this school to keep him safe! This is an outrage! Someone will lose their job over this, mark my words!"

"F...father…" 

"Aziraphale, don't you worry, I'll see every person responsible for this locked up in Azkaban forever, I promise!" Crowley was no expert on proper parenting, but that struck him more as someone who was loudly flaunting their power than someone who was genuinely concerned for their son's well being.

"Father...please...Please...don't…"

"Don't show mercy? Don't worry, I won't have  _ any _ mercy on them, Aziraphale, I promise." Did this man know his son  _ at all _ ?! At that moment, another voice spoke, calm but firm.

"Mr. Fell. Perhaps we should discuss this matter somewhere more appropriate? Madam Pomfrey is not prepared to give you the answers you are looking for." Professor Dumbledore. Crowley desperately wished he could be in the room when  _ those two _ faced eachother down. Gabriel Fell bristled, standing up straight like a soldier...Or perhaps like an animal trying to make itself look bigger to scare off a predator.

"Indeed," he clipped, "Someone is going to pay for injuring my son, headmaster."

"And they have. This way, please."

They left. Madam Pomfrey mumbled a few choice words under her breath.

"...He's gone, Mr. Crowley. You can come back now."

Crowley got up and scrambled out of the chair, back to Aziraphale's bedside.

"Angel?"

He was already asleep. Crowley sighed and hung his head.


	15. Awakening

Finally. Finally, finally, finally, finally, finally. It was all he could think. He sat at Aziraphale's bedside, clutching his hand so tightly he thought he wouldn't be able to let go. 

Professor McGonagall had just called him to the hospital wing. The other two students who had been attacked were already sitting up in their beds, looking weakly about and having all sorts of foods all but shoved down their throats by a fussing Madam Pomfrey. Aziraphale was the last student still afflicted, and only because the teachers knew Crowley would want to be there when Aziraphale woke. 

The only reason he wasn't actively crying was because he wanted to see Aziraphale's eyes open, and he couldn't do that with tears blurring his vision.

McGonagall had her wand at the ready; Snape had a vial of the potion - black - ready and waiting at Aziraphale's lips. Professor McGonagall nodded at Professor Snape. Snape opened Aziraphale's mouth and slowly tipped the vial. Aziraphale's face contorted into a grimace, and he swallowed.

They waited.

Suddenly, the snake writhed and hissed loudly ( **_"It burns! It burns!!"_ ** ), rearing up and pulling out of Aziraphale's neck.

As soon as the snake reared back McGonagall flicked her wand and the snake went limp. A further wave and it had vanished from sight.

"Good. That's the last of them. Thank you so much for your help, Professor Snape." Professor Snape inclined his head, then turned and walked out in a rustle of robes. Professor McGonagall patted Crowley on the shoulder, then followed.

Madam Pomfrey stood at the ready with steak and vegetables and mashed potatoes and pie and juice and a whole host of food stacked onto several plates. Finally, after another minute, Aziraphale groaned. And then he groaned again, a second later.

Crowley, even years later, would swear to the heavens and back that Aziraphale's eyes, when they opened, were the sparkling, glistening blue of tropical oceans, that he really was an angel of heaven, revealing his true self in a moment of weakness, and that the whole world fell away for an eternity, and Crowley was lost to those eyes, swimming in their limitless depths.

"Crowley…" Crowley blinked, and he was back, and Aziraphale's eyes were the same baby blue they always were. And Crowley tripped over himself, squeezing Aziraphale's hand even tighter.

"I'm here, angel, I'm here, it's alright, I'm here."

"Crowley…" Aziraphale reached up with his free hand and pulled Crowley down into a hug.

"I was so scared, Crowley, I couldn't move…" He was shaking, and sobbing quietly, and Crowley squeezed him tightly, burying his face in Aziraphale's shoulder.

"I'm here, angel, I'm here, it's alright, it's alright now, you're safe, you don't have to be afraid anymore, I'm here, I'm here, it's alright, it's okay, it's all okay now, Aziraphale, it's all okay now, shh…shh…"

"...Crowley…?"

"Angel?" Crowley pulled back immediately, afraid he had put too much weight on him, or otherwise hurt him.

"Can you...help me sit up?"

"Yes. Yeah, yeah, of course, yes, here, let me…" He took Aziraphale's arms and pulled, helping Aziraphale scooch back so he was sitting against the headboard.

"Thank you, Crowley." At this point, Madam Pomfrey apparently decided that she'd given them enough of an emotional reunion and all but elbowed Crowley out of the way.

"Good, now that you're sitting up, you can eat, and you had better eat everything on…" Aziraphale was already helping himself to the mashed potatoes and gravy, and Madam Pomfrey looked almost insulted at his enthusiasm, no doubt having been cut off from a long-winded series of threats about what she would do if Aziraphale tried to protest that he wasn't hungry.

"...Good," she snapped, recovering herself, "I'll come collect the dishes when you're done, and then you are going straight to bed." Aziraphale's eyes widened, and he hastily swallowed his bite of potatoes.

"But Madam Pomfrey-"

" **End of discussion** _. _ " Aziraphale turned his pleading eyes to Crowley, who fell like a house of cards.

"I'll stay with you all night, Aziraphale, promise." Madam Pomfrey puffed up like she was going to protest, but then seemingly decided it would be a losing battle.

"If I so much as  _ think  _ you are stopping him from getting his rest-"

"I won't, Madam Pomfrey, promise. I won't stop him from healing, he needs to rest." She glared at him suspiciously, then turned on her heel and started fussing with the other two students.

"...I'm glad you're here, Crowley."

"Course I'm here. I wouldn't leave you, not when it was my fault you got attacked in the first place."

"Your- Crowley, it wasn't your fault, how could you think it was your fault?"

"Wh...wh-a...I...L...C-can we talk about it later? In private?"

"Of course." Aziraphale kept eating, and Crowley excused himself for a minute.

"Hey, uh...Maxwell. Michael! Michael Park?"

"Uh...yeah?"

"I...uh...hi."

"Hi…?"

"Um. I'm Crowley. Anthony Crowley."

"Uh...hello, Crowley. I'm Michael Park. Nice to meet you, Anthony."

"Um...just call me Crowley?"

"Okay, sure. Nice to meet you, Crowley." Crowley nodded.

"...Not...too good at this whole friends thing…" Michael snorted.

"I barely noticed," he said, with a friendly sarcasm. Crowley cracked a smile.

"I thought we could be friends."

"Because you think this whole snake thing was your fault somehow?" 

"G-g-gh-wh-a-b-n-j-j-u-n-"

"Alright, alright, alright, I won't ask, okay? And I won't tell anyone, either. Just...friends?"

Crowley nodded, not quite trusting himself to speak just yet. He nodded curtly again and went back to Aziraphale.

"That was very kind of you, Crowley."

"Yeah, whatever."

"What about Olivia? That Slytherin girl?"

"...Slytherin?"

"Yes, are you going to get to know her?"

"...Well, we're in the same house, angel, we know eachother already." Slytherin? But Hastur had said...Then again, why the hell would trust Hastur's word?

"Done eating, Mr. Fell?" That was Madam Pomfrey, coming back to check. Before he could even fully get the "yes" out of his mouth, Madam Pomfrey had whisked the dishes away with her wand.

"Then it's off to bed with you."

"...Yes, Madam Pomfrey." She watched him only long enough to make sure he obeyed orders, then left to make sure the other two were following suit.

"You'll stay with me tonight, Crowley?"

"The whole night, promise. Get some rest, angel." Aziraphale sighed, not looking happy about the prospect of sleep.

"...Goodnight, Crowley."

"Night, Aziraphale. Sleep tight, okay?"


	16. Back to Class

Aziraphale was released from the hospital wing the next evening. The day after that, Professor Flitwick nearly collapsed when Aziraphale came walking into charms class alongside Crowley.

" _ Aziraphale _ ! My dear boy, welcome back! When I heard what happened, I…" He trailed off, throwing his arms around Aziraphale. Aziraphale smiled and patted his back gently.

"I've missed your smiling face so much, dear boy!" He pulled back suddenly.

"And you're alright? You're fit to be back in class?"

"Yes, sir, I'm alright now."

"Good, good. Alright, Aziraphale, take your seat and we'll begin."

***

"Alright, Crowley, we're alone. You promised you'd tell me why you thought what happened to me was your fault, remember?" 

"Yeah...Look. Er...It…Look, er...After Halloween...Remember that night?"

"Yes, I do. You walked me back to my dorm."

"Yeah. Well, after that, I was on the way back to my dorm when...when I overheard Hastur and Ligur saying they were gonna bring vampire snakes into the school. I tried to run away, but they caught me, and said if I told anyone...If I told anyone, I'd end up with a vampire snake in  _ my _ pocket. So...So I knew about the snakes all along, and I…" Crowley sighed.

"I was too scared to tell anyone. I thought...I thought if I could just use my parseltongue, keep you safe...but I fucked that up, too. I...You said I was so brave, angel, but...but you, and all those other kids, spent all that time in the hospital because I let Hastur and Ligur threaten me. I just...I just...It's all my fault, angel." Crowley slumped, and Aziraphale put his arms around him.

"It's alright, Crowley."

"It's not alright, angel. Not when you...when you have those marks...and it's all my fault."

"Crowley...You can't blame yourself. Hastur and Ligur...well, they don't sound like nice people. I think they would have made good on their threat, if you'd told anyone, and...and I wouldn't have wanted you lying in the hospital wing beside me. Have you there...made all that time bearable. So...so don't blame yourself, alright?"

"...I did tell McGonagall. After you got bit. I decided I had nothing left to lose. It...it felt like too little too late, you know? You'd already been bitten, but...but I thought maybe I could stop anyone else getting hurt."

"You did the right thing, Crowley. Whether you had told McGonagall or not, you did what you thought would keep you safe, and nobody can fault you for that." Crowley sighed.

"You're always so nice, angel. I don't know how you do it." There was something unspoken there, an implication about where - and who - Aziraphale certainly had  _ not  _ gotten it from, causing Aziraphale's response to get caught in his throat, and he blushed.

"Well...I suppose...I'm just...a nice person?" He said uncertainly, and Crowley shrugged.

"One of the unsolved mysteries of the world, I suppose," he said. Aziraphale smiled a bit, but then he sobered.

"By the way, Crowley...Hastur and Ligur...did...did you know them?" Crowley shrugged.

"Well...er...in passing. Not really. Why?" Aziraphale's lip trembled.

"My...my father...sent me a letter…" Aziraphale took a breath. "Hastur and Ligur...because of what happened...my father…" The rest of the sentence trailed off into silence, but Crowley caught the one word that mattered.

"Azkaban?!" Aziraphale nodded tearfully. 

"...Ouch," Crowley said, keeping his thoughts to himself. The conversation dwindled.

"...It's...getting late," Aziraphale said at length, "I should...get to bed."

"Yeah. Course. I'll walk you back. And, uh...hey. It's gonna be okay, alright?"

"...Thank you, Crowley."

***

"Well, this is your dorm, angel."

"Yes. Um...tomorrow, we should meet up. After classes?"

"Sure. I'll be in Greenhouse Three, alright? Checking up on my Piranha Plant."

"Oh, of course."

"Well...goodnight, angel."

"Goodnight, Crowley."

***

"Grow better, or...you know what will happen! I  _ have  _ to win this contest!"

"...Crowley?" Crowley whirled, beaming.

"Angel! Sorry, lost track of time!"

"Were you...talking to someone?"

"Just myself, angel. My piranha plant...it's not growing so well. I...I just…"

"You're going to be fine, Crowley. Your piranha plant looks marvelous."

"Oh, shut up, you'll make it soft," Crowley replied, but there was a hint of a smile there, too. "Come on, angel, let's go."

***

Crowley and Michael Park started hanging out. They weren't 'friends' by any stretch, but they said hello in the halls and Crowley occasionally asked for things, and Michael could ask for things back. It was a barely-present friendship, but it was a friendship.

Susan - the angelic prefect who had told Crowley where Aziraphale was that fateful day before Christmas break and obligingly tucked him in when he cried himself to sleep - loved her book. Well, she thought it was okay. It was a thoughtful gift, and she hoped her reaction might prompt the weird Slytherin kid into more random acts of kindness. Either way, Crowley felt he had successfully given a thoughtful gift, and if Aziraphale noticed he never saw Susan reading the book Crowley gave her, he didn't comment. Probably for the same reason Susan had somewhat exaggerated her love for the gift.

***

Time passed. And so it came time for spring break. This time around, Aziraphale's excitement about the trip home was more subdued, something Crowley picked up on quickly.

Crowley certainly hadn't missed the way Aziraphale barely touched his food at breakfast time, anxiously eyeing the owls flying in to deliver the post. He didn't talk about it, sensing it was a delicate subject. No more good-natured punches.

The day before, Crowley's last class was potions. At the end of class, he stopped in front of Professor Snape's desk.

"...Mr. Crowley, I am not in the habit of offering a potions club to students, even ones as...gifted as you."

"It's not about that, Professor. I wanted to ask about...that potion you brewed for the students. How does it work, exactly?"

"It turns the blood of the affected person into an acid, forcing the snake to detach itself from its victim to survive. The effect lasts only a few minutes, and then the blood returns to normal. As far as I know, no vampire snake has stayed around long enough to discover that fact."

"Right…"

"...Anything else?"

"Er, no, Professor."

"Run along then, Mr. Crowley."

"Yes, Professor."


	17. Petrificus Totalus

When the day finally came, and they boarded the train home together, Aziraphale went from zero to giggly and giddy and bouncing in his seat in the few seconds it took for the train to start to move. No doubt the reality that he was actually going home to his parents this time was hitting him, and he was ecstatic. They spent the train ride talking animatedly, with Aziraphale getting tired and falling asleep for a few hours along the way. When he woke, he noticed Crowley looked considerably worse for wear, grimacing.

"Crowley, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine angel. The sun bothering my eyes, same as always." Aziraphale looked confused, but Crowley fixed him with a look (one that said  _ it's the excuse I use so nobody asks too much about my eyes _ ), and he understood.

"Oh, of course! Even with your sunglasses on?"

"Yeah. Sun's really bright today."

"Oh, you poor thing. Do you want me to lead you when we get off?"

"Oh, no, I'm alright, just a bad headache. You know how it is."

"I certainly do, Crowley."

When the train pulled into the station, Aziraphale and Crowley exited together, Aziraphale lighting up immediately.

"Mother! Father!" He ran for them, throwing his arms around Gabriel, who folded his son in his arms.

"Heya, sport!" But he pushed Aziraphale away almost as soon as it was socially acceptable. His mother came in for a hug after that, beaming smiles and a forehead kiss, but she too pushed him away the moment it was acceptable.

"Ready to go home?"

"Yes, just let me say goodbye to my friend first."

"Alright, but be quick, Aziraphale. Busy, busy!" Aziraphale nodded, running back to Crowley, who was being beckoned by a woman with short, straw-like black hair, very different from the red hair Aziraphale had grown used to.

"I'll see you in a couple weeks, Aziraphale."

"Goodbye, Crowley." They hugged briefly, then Aziraphale pulled away, going back to his father.

"Who was that?" his father asked.

"That's my friend Crowley."

"Why was he wearing sunglasses? I hope that's not what kids these days are into."

"Oh, nothing like that. He has really sensitive eyes, so the light bothers him and gives him these really bad headaches. He wears sunglasses to keep the light away."

"Well! It was really nice of you to make friends with a cripple, Aziraphale."

"Oh, he's not-" "Everyone at work will love to hear that my son is already growing up to be a generous spirit like myself! This is a great PR move. Thinking of daddy dearest when you did it, were you? Good job, Aziraphale."

"I...er…"

"Alright! Home we go!"

"...Yes, father."

***

Crowley's father slithered up his son's body to wrap around his waist and rest his head on his shoulders the moment he was through the door.

**_"Crowley. You must tell me how your human friend is faring."_ **

**_"He's better now. Professor Snape made a potion that turned Aziraphale's blood into acid, and then McGonagall whisked the snake away. He's awake, and he's in good spirits. I saw him off when we arrived back at the train station, before I met mum."_ **

**_"Good, I am glad. And the people responsible…"_ **

**_"I...spilled when Aziraphale got hurt. They were expelled, and Aziraphale said they got locked in Azka- wizard prison."_ **

**_"All has turned out for the better?"_ **

**_"Looks like it."_ **

**_"Good. And welcome home, son."_ **

***

"So! Professor Flitwick tells me you're excelling at charms."

"Yes, father."

"Good. Having a thorough knowledge of spells can only help you when you start work as an auror, but your defense against the dark arts marks could be better to that end."

"Yes, father."

"And professor Snape tells me your potions marks are doing well. Good."

"Yes, father."

"Now, there's the outstanding matter of your Christmas present. What'll it be? A new spellbook? Cauldron?"

"Please don't make me sing again, Aziraphale," his mother said, "You know I hate that disgusting motherly stuff."

"No, I...don't want you to sing again. Actually, father...can you teach me a spell? Anything, anything you want."

"A spell? Yes, I can do that! Well then, for Christmas you're getting Petrificus Totalus. Professor Buckley told me they're going to work on it after the break. This way you'll already know it! Your mother and I have to leave soon, so why don't I teach it to you now and you can practice."

"Leave?"

"Yes, leave, Aziraphale. You can't expect us to stick around and do nothing just because you're home with us. Now, let's go teach you that spell."

"E...excellent…" 

***

"Alright, we'll be back on the twentieth to take you back to school."

"Yes, mother…" 

"And, Aziraphale?"

"Yes, mother?"

"Your father has informed me that he told you the petrification spell wears off after a few hours. In real combat, you could be dead in a few hours, that's not good enough. The spell can be willfully overcome almost instantly with enough practice. Now, I don't expect you to be able to master this, you are still a child, after all, that would be preposterous. However. It is never too early to start practicing.  _ Petrificus Totalus _ ." 

And that was that.


	18. Petrification

"Crowley!"

"Hello, Aziraphale!" Aziraphale ran to give Crowley a hug as both his parents came up behind him, all beaming smiles. They were just there to see him off, like a proper, nuclear family would.

"Ah, you must be the infamous Crowley, Aziraphale's told us so much about you," his father said, sticking his hand out.

"Ah...yeah...Hi," Crowley replied, taking the offered hand slowly.

"It's so nice to see him with somebody, Aziraphale gets so lonely. It's a difficult life, having famous parents."

"Yeah…"

"Oh, Aziraphale, why don't you ask your friend Crowley to help you practice?" His mother suggested, "You remember what I told you when you got home?"

"Oh...yes, of course, what a wonderful idea, mother."

"...I'm always glad to help Aziraphale practice," Crowley chipped in.

"Excellent! You're a wonderful friend, Crowley, I can tell. Alright, we have to go, but we love you very much and we'll see you at the end of the school year."

"Goodbye, mother. Goodbye, father."

Crowley and Aziraphale got on the train together, and almost as soon as they had sat down Aziraphale kicked Crowley in the shin, hard.

"OW! What the hell was that for?!"

"Don't open your mouth unless you know what you're talking about next time, alright?"

"Fine, fine, sorry, angel, geez…Take it  _ you  _ had a bad holiday."

"I don't want to talk about it." Aziraphale turned and stared moodily out the window. He didn't have to worry about his parents seeing him be a grouch, they were already gone.

***

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

"One fudge cake, please," Crowley said, and he took the cake and tossed it into Aziraphale's lap.

"...I don't want it."

"Then put it away for later." Aziraphale rolled his eyes and continued to stare miserably out the window.

"...I'm glad to see you again, angel," Crowley said eventually, and Aziraphale considered before cracking what may have been a smile if the rest of his face hadn't remained staunchly miserable.

"Me too."

Aziraphale napped for part of the train ride back, and when he woke he was in a considerably better mood. Sort of.

"I'm sorry I got angry at you, Crowley."

"It's alright. So...what did I agree to without knowing it?"

"Do you know the petrification curse? Petrificus totalus?"

"Yeah, I know it. Gotten pretty good at it. Why?"

"My mother wants me to practice overcoming the effects by myself, without waiting for them to wear off. You agreed to petrify me so I can practice overcoming it." Crowley's eyes went wide, and his face went pale.

"And...you were practicing that over the break?"

"No. Mom and dad left me alone for the break, they had to work. Mom jinxed me right before she walked out, though."

"That...angel, that…"

"She's going to want updates, now that you've agreed. Which means we'll actually have to practice." Crowley stared.

"...Can you kick me again? I don't think you hit me hard enough last time." Aziraphale cracked a smile.

"Aziraphale, if I had known I would've kept my trap shut. You know I'd never hurt you on purpose. You know that."

"I know."

"Angel…" Crowley sighed. "I'm an idiot."

"It's alright, Crowley. Well...no, not really, but I suppose I'd feel a little better with you there beside me. When...er, when are you free?"

"Tuesdays, after charms, if you'd like."

"Sure. Once every...second week?"

"Sure. I guess."

***

"Are you ready, angel?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose…" Crowley grimaced, and Aziraphale felt a shiver of fear run through him as Crowley levelled his wand at him.

"...Petrificus totalus." Aziraphale felt his whole body stiffen, and he fell backwards, hitting the ground hard. The only mercy was that with his whole body locked up, he couldn't hurt his head when he fell. Immediately Crowley was at his side.

"Are you alright, angel? Are you hurt? Wait, shit, you can't talk. Uhh...blink once for yes, twice for no. Are you alright?" Aziraphale blinked once.

"You're alright?" Aziraphale blinked again.

"Not hurt?" Aziraphale blinked twice.

"Okay. Okay, good. Okay, you need to try to break free, okay? So...just...struggle, or something." Aziraphale tried, he really did, but nothing happened. He blinked twice.

"You can't?" Aziraphale blinked twice.

"Alright, just keep trying, but if you can't then...just relax, and we'll wait for it to wear off together, alright?" Aziraphale blinked once, and Crowley took his hand.

"It's gonna be alright, Aziraphale, I'm here." Aziraphale blinked.


	19. The Piranha Plant

"Goodness, Crowley, I think your piranha plant is the biggest out of all of them!"

"Of course it is! I told you I was good with plants, didn't I?"

"You've definitely got this, Crowley."

"Contestants, please place your piranha plants on the stand and wait for judging!" Crowley winked at Aziraphale, then left, placing his plant on his spot. It was noticeably a whole 'head' taller than the rest, not to mention it was greener and more plump-looking. 

All the plants were tested for magical influences. A slytherin was disqualified after it was found out he'd used a growing charm. Ironically, the plant still would have only been second to Crowley's. Once Crowley's plant had been tested for magical influences, Crowley was all but interrogated as to how he managed to get it to grow so big.

"Mr. Crowley, that piranha plant is simply amazing! You must share your secret!"

"Oh, I dunno...Proper light, warmth...I talked to it a bit, maybe that helped…" 

Crowley obviously got the first prize. He wore the medal around his neck proudly, beaming at Aziraphale, who was beaming right back.

***

"What will happen to them? The plants?" Aziraphale asked later.

"Piranha plants are great for leftover scraps in the kitchen, they'll eat anything. Plus their saliva is really acidic, it's good for potions and stuff. They'll probably harvest a supply of the saliva, then send them to Hogsmeade, where they'll be sold or something. Mine'll probably be used a bit like a guard dog, to protect something valuable."

"Ah, I see. So they won't be killed or anything."

"Course not."

***

Slytherin lost the house cup for the first time in a while. Crowley thought he would take the blame for all the points his teachers docked when he was with Aziraphale, but that wasn't the case at all. Turns out the students - or at least some of them - were pretty good at putting two and two together. Somewhat.

"It was those two brothers, Hastur and Ligur, that lost us the house cup, I'm sure of it."

"I heard they were suspended for cheating or something. Remember Olivia said she told McGonagall."

"Well,  _ I  _ heard they got expelled because they released the vampire snakes!"

"Hastur and Ligur? Responsible for the vampire snakes? No way!"

"Yeah, way. Think about it. Olivia gets Hastur in trouble for cheating, and two weeks later she's in the hospital with a big fat snake on her neck? No way that's a coincidence. And then, the vampire snakes are caught and Hastur and Ligur conveniently "have an illness"? No, I think Hastur set up the whole thing to get back at Olivia, and then they got caught and expelled!"

"Nobody said they had an illness."

"Julia did."

"Well anyway, that's ridiculous. If that was true,  _ Olivia _ would've been the first, but she wasn't, it was some Gryffindor kid. Besides, they wouldn't have been stupid enough to set one on Aziraphale."

"Gabriel Fell's son?"

"Yeah, didn't you hear? Aziraphale was the last student, like two days before they found the nest or something. Mr. Fell was  _ furious _ , came marching into the school. Walked right past me, it was terrifying! He looked ready to  _ kill someone _ !"

"Did anybody get fired?"

"Not that it looks like, but with Gabriel Fell on the case because of his son, no way Hastur and Ligur would've just been expelled. The way he looked that day, they'd both have a life sentence in Azkaban."

"...It's a shame. I met him once, Aziraphale. Seemed really polite. Actually, do you think the vampire snakes got caught because of Gabriel Fell? Think about it, his son getting bitten? Mr. Fell probably tore the school apart and found the snakes right away."

"Yeah, but then why couldn't Dumbledore or McGonagall do that? Or any of the teachers? They're all really powerful witches and wizards."

"Not as powerful as Gabriel Fell."

"Dumbledore's stronger than Mr. Fell."

"What, no he isn't!"

"He totally is! He acts like an old coot, but under all that he's the strongest wizard there is!"

"You're  _ barking _ ."

Crowley raised his eyebrows. He had been wondering why that Slytherin girl was in hospital. If she'd tattled to McGonagall about Hastur cheating, then he'd have a grudge against her and only her. Interesting. Not that he cared. It was just a matter of interest.


	20. End of the Year

_ Aziraphale, _

_ Just letting you know we won't be able to pick you up from the train at the end of this year. We'll be away in China talking with the Minister for Magic there. Ask a friend if you can stay with them. It should only be for a few weeks, then we'll pick you up. Be sure to send us the address so we can come get you. _

_ Dad _

***

"Erm...Crowley?" Aziraphale had come up to the Slytherin table after lunch, sitting across from Crowley.

"Yeah?"

"Well, the end of the school year is coming up soon…"

"We'll see eachother next year, won't we? And we can write all summer."

"No, it's not about that. It's just...you're really the only real friend I have…"

"...And…?"

"Well...can I stay at your place? Just for a few weeks?"

"Well...I mean, if you've got no problems walking on dirt and living with a snake and my mom for a few weeks, there shouldn't be any problem. Fair warning, my dad is...very touchy-feely. He might crawl all over you."

"That's alright."

"Will your parents be okay with you staying at my place?"

"That's why I asked. You see, they're going to be away in China, so they won't be there to pick me up from the train. I need to stay with someone until they can pick me up."

Crowley remembered thinking once that Aziraphale couldn't know his parents enough to miss them. He didn't realize how true that was.

"Do you  _ ever  _ see your parents?" 

"Well-" There was a silence. 

"I...well...sometimes...They're...they're very busy. I...it's hard, sometimes, but I make do." Crowley let the matter drop.

"...Well, of course you can stay with me. Mom won't mind, and dad'll be thrilled to meet you. I don't want you starting your holidays hanging around  _ here _ , either."

"Thank you, Crowley. I know it's a lot to ask…"

"It's alright. I'm happy to spend time with you."

***

_ Mum, _

_ I've got a human friend coming to stay with us for a few weeks. His parents are away in China until a little bit into the holidays, so they can't pick him up from the train. We'll need to make an extra meal, but I think that's it. _

_ Anthony _

***

_ Anthony, _

_ Do you want your human friend to sleep on the floor while he's here? How will he brush his hair? His teeth? That's not it, Anthony, not even close. I'll pick up the necessary supplies tomorrow.  _

_ Mum _

***

"You're sure your family is alright with me staying?"

"Yeah. Mom said she'd pick up all the supplies, she'll have hairbrush, toothbrush, all that."

"Your mother sounds very kind." Crowley snorted.

"Don't let her catch you saying that, angel."

***

Crowley slept on the train ride home. He woke briefly to the sound of muffled sobbing, and held Aziraphale tight as he cried (Damn Aziraphale's nonexistent parents to hell). He encouraged Aziraphale to sleep for the rest of the train ride back, and dream good dreams about all of the fun times he'd spent with his parents. They both slept, Aziraphale's head on Crowley's shoulder, until the sound of the train screeching to a stop woke Crowley.

"Angel, we're here."

"Goodness, already? It feels like I only fell asleep a few minutes ago. I can't wait to meet your parents, Crowley."

"Well, you'll meet mum now, and dad when we get home."

They stepped off the train (Aziraphale caught himself looking around for his parents, much to his dismay) and a woman came up behind them.

"Anthony," she said, and they turned. The woman in question was short, a little over five foot, and she had straw-like, straight black hair that fell to her chin. She wore a black tunic of sorts, black pants that were much too short for her and didn't even reach her ankles, black high socks, and black boots. Overall, the impression Aziraphale got was of someone who didn't go outside enough to care whether she looked good or not.

"Mum," Crowley replied, "This is Aziraphale."

"Bea," she said, nodding once in Aziraphale's direction, and then "Let's go home."

"Yep."

They walked in silence through the gate, and Bea, without stopping in her step, said "Aziraphale. Have you ever apparated before?"

"No...no, I'm afraid not, sorry…"

"Hold Anthony's hand. And try not to get sick."

"Yes, Miss Bea."

"Bea."

"Yes, Bea."

"...It wasn't a command. You don't need to stand on ceremony with me."

"Er, right, sorry."

"Talk to me like you would talk to your own mother."

"Er…"

"...I think that  _ was _ how he talks to his mother," Crowley said, and Aziraphale awkwardly nodded a confirmation. Bea stared at Aziraphale, but kept silent.

"Here," she said, turning a corner into a deserted alley, "Aziraphale, hold Anthony's hand." Aziraphale took Crowley's hand, and Crowley took his mother's hand.

"Hang on nice and tight, Aziraphale. You're gonna feel a sharp tug, so don't let go, no matter what."

"Got it." Crowley nodded to his mother, who nodded back.

"Three. Two. One." Aziraphale heard a sharp crack, and his world lurched sideways, and it felt like he was being literally pulled somewhere. Crowley was almost pulled away from him but he gripped tight, and a second later they appeared somewhere else. Aziraphale staggered and fell to the grass (grass?) , putting a hand to his mouth as his stomach flipped uncomfortably. 

"Alright, angel?" Aziraphale ignored him, too focused on taking steadying breaths to try and force down the sick pressure rising in his throat. His other hand pressed into the ground, trying to assure his stomach that he was back on solid land.

"...Good heavens," he finally gasped, when he didn't think he was going to be sick.

"Alright?"

"Yes, I...I think so. What a dizzying experience…"

"You get used to it." Aziraphale made a noncommittal sound, finally looking up and taking stock of his location. They were on a large plot of land, all grass, with the exception of a little footpath that started right where they were and led to the house. The house was long, and looked rather like a rectangular cottage. It didn't look to be in disrepair, it simply looked like nobody had bothered to make the outside look beautiful. They were in the middle of nowhere, and looking around Aziraphale couldn't see any other houses.

"Is this...your home?" he asked as Crowley helped him to his feet.

"Yep. It's nicer on the inside, come on." 

They walked to a simple enclosed entryway, the floor covered with soil, and Crowley began toeing off his shoes.

"Shoes and socks off, Aziraphale, trust me, it'll make life a whole lot easier." When Aziraphale was barefoot, Bea put her hand on the door, which curiously had no doorknob.

"You have told him about your father?"

"Yeah." He turned to Aziraphale. "Dad's really affectionate, so don't freak out if you suddenly have a snake climbing all over you, alright? He's just saying hello." Aziraphale nodded, and Bea turned her attention to the door. Something clicked, and the door swung open. A burst of heat struck Aziraphale, hotter than it had been on his trip to California, and the humidity was overwhelming. There were leafy green plants everywhere, the ground was covered with soft soil, and grass, and the whole inside of the house, in a word, looked like a rainforest.

...A rainforest with the largest snake Aziraphale had ever seen coming towards them. It looked to be about eight feet long, and was jet black, with a bright red stomach. Aziraphale recognized the eyes as Crowley's eyes, but that didn't stop the pang of fear that he tried very hard to shove down. The snake's tongue flicked out, tasting the air, and Aziraphale gulped, knowing his panic had been discovered already. Thankfully, the snake stopped about four feet from them, then rose up and nodded his head at Aziraphale. Was that...a greeting?

"Er...hello," Aziraphale said, and the snake nodded again, flicking his tongue out. And then he turned to Crowley and hissed ( **_"You've brought a friend home"_ ** ), and Crowley hissed right back ( **_"Yeah, he needed a place to stay"_ ** ). Parseltongue, Aziraphale realized, they were talking.

"Dad wants to know if it's alright to come say hi," Crowley said to him, "I promise he's harmless. Even if you step on him, he'll probably just bluff strike you."

"Er...right. Um...alright, sure…" He got down on his knees nervously, holding his hand out, and Crowley followed suit, hissing at his father ( **_"I think he'll be okay if you wanna say hi."_ ** ). The snake moved towards him, tongue flicking out rapidly. He gently pressed his snout against Aziraphale's hand, as though assessing his reaction to make sure he wouldn't panic, then slithered up onto Aziraphale's thigh, reaching up until he was eye level with Aziraphale, then nodding again. Another greeting?

"Hello, sir," Aziraphale said, his voice high with anxiety but not moving to pull away, and he flicked his eyes to Crowley.

"Er...can he understand me?"

"Nope," Crowley said cheerfully, "He knows what hello sounds like and what it means, but he doesn't speak human. He's good at reading body language, though, and he can taste the air and get a sense. The only reason he didn't come right up to me was because he knew you were nervous. Try petting him." Crowley held out his hand, and his father pressed his snout to it, letting Crowley run his hand along his scales.

"Now you try." Aziraphale held up a hand, and Crowley's father pressed against it, staying still and allowing Aziraphale to pet his scales. Crowley's father reached farther up, gently pressing his snout against Aziraphale's cheek in what could have been a kiss, then slithered away to crawl over Bea, once, pressing his snout against her cheek as well, then over to climb Crowley's body and drape his head on his shoulders, resting there peacefully. He pressed his snout against Crowley's cheek, as well, and Crowley smiled.

"Hi, dad." Aziraphale smiled. It was strange...alright, it was outright terrifying, but he could get used to it for Crowley's sake.

***

His son was anxious, and it was no great wonder why, with this being the first time he had ever brought a human friend home with him. One look at the two tiny scars on the left side of the boy's neck told him that this was Crowley's special human friend that had been attacked by the vampire snake. For Crowley's human friend, he was on his best behaviour, asking permission before every movement. Crowley's human friend had been terrified when he first entered, but the feeling had since dulled to extremely anxious, a considerable improvement. He wanted to press against the scar on the boy's neck, to let him know he was different, he wouldn't hurt him, but he knew that would be too forward. Instead he gave Bea a kiss, then settled up on Crowley's shoulders.

**_"You have chosen a good friend, Crowley. He is very brave."_ **

**_"Brave? He's terrified."_ **

**_"He reached out to touch me, despite being terrified. After being attacked by a vampire snake mere months ago, he has every reason to fear me, but he is willing to try. That speaks of unusual bravery, for a human. What is his name?"_ **

**_"Aziraphale."_** Crowley's friend, Aziraphale, perked up, looking over at them.

"Did...Did I just hear my name?"

**_"What is he saying?"_** He asked, ** _"Did he recognize his name, even in parseltongue?"_**

 ** _"Yep."_** "Dad wanted to know your name, so I told him."

 ** _"Smart boy,"_** he said approvingly. His son smiled, then began conversing with his friend.

"Dad likes you."

"He...does?"

"Yep. Thinks you're really brave. I...er...I told him, you know, about...about the whole vampire snake thing. He's impressed you're even in the house, let alone saying hi to him and everything."

"Oh, well...Tell him thank you. And it's nice to meet him."

"Sure thing, angel."

**_"Aziraphale says thanks for the compliment, and it's nice to meet you."_** Ah, his compliment. He figured that was why Aziraphale had gone warm in the cheeks suddenly. He bumped his snout against Crowley's cheek.

**_"The feeling is mutual."_ **


	21. Fondness

"Aziraphale. Come this way, I will show you to your room. Are you hungry?"

"Oh, um...perhaps a little hungry, but I can wait until dinnertime, it's no problem…"

"Nonsense. If you want food, ask."

"Oh...well, thank you."

"Do not thank me for feeding you." Bea led him to a room that was lined with the same soil from earlier, and a tree that stretched overtop of the bed, but the room also had...well, a bed, as well as a desk, a bathroom, and a small couch.

"This is Anthony's bedroom. You can discuss with him whether you will sleep on the bed or the couch. There is a spare hairbrush and toothbrush on the counter in the bathroom. I will have something small prepared for you in a few moments."

"I...erm...Thank you for letting me stay here."

"Anthony doesn't need permission to invite friends over."

"...Right."

***

**_"Is Bea giving Aziraphale a hard time? He sounds uncomfortable."_ **

**_"Sooner or later he'll learn to stop thanking her for things. I think she's just mad about how Aziraphale's parents treat him."_ **

**_"...Are they abusive? I did not see any marks…"_ **

**_"They don't hit him, obviously. Aziraphale's parents are...very very important government members, so obviously they have to look like the perfect family, and there's no way they'd keep their jobs if Aziraphale came to school covered in bruises. But...they're never home, ever. The whole reason Aziraphale is even here is because his parents went off to China for some business or other and couldn't pick him up from the train, so he needed somewhere to stay for a few weeks until they got back. And Aziraphale's mother jinxed him so he could practice breaking free on his own, and his father came to see him when he was in hospital, but all he did was shout about how he was gonna get people fired from their jobs and locked up in prison, he didn't ask about his son even once! They...and...Aziraphale doesn't think his parents are abusing him. "They're nice people, just busy," he says, but...they're abusing him. They may not hit him, but...but they're not proper parents, not even close."_** He sighed.

 ** _"So...so we let him stay here, and he doesn't have to talk all formally, and we give him snacks if he's hungry, and I think mom can tell that he's saying thank you because he doesn't get these things at home, and it's making her angry. And...and the only time he gets any love is at Christmas. His parents give him anything he wants for Christmas, but he never asks for books or games or things, he asks for...he asks for his mom to sing him a song until he falls asleep, he asks for his dad to spend time teaching him a new spell...he asks for his parents to spend time with him, because he never gets that stuff any other time of year. It's just...And...and Aziraphale was so excited for Christmas break, he was so excited to get home because he missed his parents, and...and the day before he was supposed to go back home they sent him a letter saying 'oops, sorry, we forgot to mention before we sent you to school that we were gonna be away in America, so you can't come home for Christmas!' I found him crying his eyes out in a bathroom, he cried himself to sleep, and he still says they're good people! I…"_** Crowley sighed again, heavily.

**_"Sorry. I didn't mean to go off like that, just...he doesn't deserve it. He deserves nice things, and all the fudge cakes he wants, and I hate that he doesn't get it. I mean, we're weird as far as families go, but at least I know my parents love me. Aziraphale...he believes the lie his parents have sold the public. I don't think he knows what it's like to have a loving family. I think he thinks what he gets at home is normal, or just strict parenting because they want him to do well. Or maybe he just doesn't want to admit to himself that his parents are bastards. I...I just want him to be happy. I want him to know that he's loved."_ **

**_"...You are very protective of Aziraphale. He is lucky to have found you."_ **

**_"...It's so funny. You look at his obnoxious parents, who obviously think they're better than everyone else, and you'd think their son would be just like them, but...he's an angel. I call him angel, because he is, compared to his parents."_ **

**_"I'm glad."_ **

**_"Yeah. Sorry, just...I'm mad about how they treat him. Been holding it in, because Aziraphale won't admit it. Mom knows, so she's getting on his case about thanking her for making a snack when he's hungry."_ **

**_"Well, hopefully we can show him how a proper family is supposed to work."_ **

**_"Hopefully."_ **

***

"So, this my room, I think mum showed it to you already. You can take the-" Aziraphale had already taken a pair of pyjamas from his trunk and placed them on the couch. Crowley picked them up and put them on the bed.

"... _ bed _ . You can take the  _ bed _ , angel."

"I refuse."

"You- That wasn't-"

"No, I know what you're thinking and I'm not letting you. It's  _ your _ bed,  _ you _ sleep in it." Aziraphale picked up his pyjamas and put them back on the couch.

" _ You're _ the guest,  _ you _ sleep in comfort!"

" _ I'm _ the guest,  _ I  _ decide where I want to sleep, and I've  _ decided _ to sleep on the couch!"

"You've  _ decided _ to take the less desirable option to be  _ polite _ , and I won't have it!"

"You  _ will  _ have it, because I don't  _ want _ the bed!"

"Just take the damn bed, angel!"

"No! I refuse!"

"Angel, you're being stupid!"

"No,  _ you're  _ being stupid!"

***

Crowley and Aziraphale were having an argument. There was a lot of shouting going on, coming from Crowley's bedroom. It didn't seem to be a serious argument, though, because Bea had a small smile working its way onto her face. He slithered up to her and pressed his snout against her cheek. She smiled ever so slightly wider, and murmured something to him. He didn't understand, but he knew fondness when he heard it.


	22. All Good Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of year 1, but the start of year 2 is coming up soon!

Aziraphale ended up on the couch, having convinced Crowley that it would be supremely comfortable. A higher blanket-to-bed ratio meant more soft, blanket-y comfort. Crowley had - reluctantly - agreed. 

It was around midnight and, as was his habit, Crowley's father came in to check on his son, and by extension, Aziraphale. He slithered up onto the bed to find Crowley asleep, wrapped around his pillow as he always was, knees drawn up to his chest. He was sure Crowley's instinct to wrap around things while he slept came from him, and it was just another part of his son that he adored. He flicked his tongue out, tasting soil, wood, and the warmth of two humans at rest. Aziraphale had been much warmer than Crowley earlier, but he had thought nothing of it, then. Anxiety and stress raised a human's body temperature considerably. Even while asleep, though, Aziraphale was much, much warmer than Crowley. He slid off the bed and slithered up onto the couch next. Aziraphale slept on his back, one hand hanging limply off the couch, the other resting on his stomach. While asleep, Aziraphale looked perfectly content, and he was glad his nature as a snake hadn't put Crowley's human friend off his rest. Content with the knowledge that both boys were sound asleep and resting peacefully, Crowley's father slithered out the door where he had come from.

***

"Is your dad...sick?" Aziraphale asked, his voice hushed. Crowley snorted.

"He's got no clue what you're saying, angel, you don't need to lower your voice. He's probably figured out you're talking about him because of how secret-y you got. And no, he's healthy as he was yesterday. What makes you think he's sick?"

"Well...he hasn't moved in ages. Yesterday he was all over the place. I just thought...he looked really...tired today, or something."

"Well, yeah, he just ate." When Aziraphale continued to stare at him, Crowley sighed.

"Sorry, I forget you don't know the first thing about snakes. He just ate, so he's using all of his energy to digest and gets really sluggish because of it. Like how we sleep after a big meal."

"Oh, I see."

"I'll get you a book, angel. Bit of a kiddie book, so sorry about that, but it has all the basics."

"That would be lovely, Crowley, thank you." Crowley got up and got the book in question. It was indeed written for children, and was called "Everything You Need to Know About Snakes". Aziraphale took the book and flipped it open, starting to read.

***

**_"Aziraphale said something stupid earlier, didn't he? You went and got your snake book for him right after."_ **

**_"He was worried you were sick because you weren't moving."_ **

**_"...Well, he can't know everything…"_ **

***

"I finished the book, Crowley. Thank you so much for letting me borrow it."

"Keep it, angel. S'not like  _ I  _ need it, I can just ask dad anything I want."

"Oh...do you mind?"

"Not at all. Consider it a gift...No, don't look at me like that, it's just a book, angel."

***

Aziraphale yelped when a pressure slid across his foot and around his leg. He looked down, and Crowley's father was there, winding around his left leg. He had paused currently, and was looking up at him.

"Dad wants to know if he can climb up onto your shoulders and say hi," Crowley said, no hissing needed.

"Oh, er...yes, of course, sorry. Just panicked a bit." He looked down and smiled at Crowley's father, who slithered up another inch before stopping, as though checking to make sure he wouldn't panic before moving further. When Aziraphale didn't flinch back again, Crowley's father kept going, and Aziraphale awkwardly held his hands up to make sure Crowley's father didn't slip.

"He's fine, angel, he can balance himself," Crowley called, "Long as you don't fall over, he's fine." Sure enough, Crowley's father slithered up onto his shoulders with no problem, gently pressing his snout against his cheek before settling down and relaxing. He was starting to see it now. Once he got over the  _ very big snake _ -related anxieties, he could see calm in Crowley's father's eyes. Just saying hello, like Crowley had said.

***

As with all good things, it had to end eventually. Aziraphale's parents knocked on the door, and Bea took out her wand and waved it. Immediately the whole interior of the house changed to look perfectly normal. Crowley's father hid. 

"Aziraphale. If your parents ever abandon you again, you are welcome to stay here."

"I...Thank you, Bea. That's very kind of you."

Bea waved her wand over herself, changing her clothes to something more acceptable. Then, she answered the door. His mother was standing there, smiling, and Bea returned the smile.

"You must be Uriel Fell?"

"Yes, I'm here to pick up Aziraphale. I trust he's been well-behaved?"

"He's been incredible. You must be proud to have him as a son."

"I am," she said fondly. Bea smiled.

"Aziraphale tells me you're very busy. Just know that if ever something comes up, or you don't want to have to turn down a work opportunity because you have nobody to care for Aziraphale, he's welcome to stay here with us."

"But I'd never see my parents!" Aziraphale protested, already knowing what this would mean.

"Quiet, Aziraphale," his mother snapped as harshly as was socially acceptable, and then, to Bea, "That sounds wonderful. I hate leaving him alone in that big house, it would be such a weight off my mind to know he's with a friend. I'll send you a letter by post if ever we need to send him over?"

"Of course," Bea replied. Aziraphale looked away. 

"Excellent, thank you so much. Shall we go, Aziraphale?"

"Yes, mother."

***

The summer passed with little incident. Aziraphale's mother jinxed him, seemingly impressed by his progress. She scheduled weekly sessions where he could keep practicing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All three works so far have been added to the Magical Friendship series, but for anyone who's missed it, Magical Friendship 2 is here:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/23099431/chapters/55264684


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